What Does Not Kill
by Astridhe
Summary: Sequel to Fine Print. Separated from her lover by the twists and turns of fate, Alystin has finally healed enough to search for what she treasures the most. Accompanied by faithful allies and a great deal of hope, she plunges into the darkness, knowing full well that survival and return may be impossible. After all, what is love but sacrifice?
1. Arrival

**Author's Note:** This will hopefully finally wrap up the story of Alystin and Sabal. As a note for any new and soon to be confused reader, there is a romance in here between two women.

* * *

The shield dwarf shifted his axe on his shoulder as he walked beside the dark elf wizard. No one in the party was making a sound—a definite tension had settled on the group as they neared the City of Spiders. He glanced up at her. The lines of Alystin Druu'giir's face were composed, but devoid of the lightheartedness he had once associated with her. This past year had not been an easy one. Their endeavor had been plagued with surface and Underdark monsters alike, countless setbacks, and now the looming specter of Menzoberranzan. "Ye sure about this?" he asked finally, breaking the silence.

Aly looked over at her friend, grey eyes somber. "Thoroughly," she said. She was grateful for Storunn, for them all. "The tower is just up ahead. You don't have to follow. I'm forever in your debt for getting me this far."

"But we'll follow anyway," Camran said. The human priest of Sune offered her a smile when she hesitated and glanced over at him. He was a young man of average build with short, sandy hair and a neatly trimmed matching beard. His hazel eyes were perpetually friendly and warm, if worried at the moment.

They had all come. Her other two companions were quiet in their agreement with Camran's comment, nodding to her. Linnan Leafrunner, the halfling rogue she had grown so attached to, was checking the edge on his knife, just in case. Nendir was lingering at the back, hooded and shrouded to conceal his elven nature. He knew what perils he ran here, so close to the Spider Queen's city. "Are you certain she'll be there?" the surface elf asked as they broke out into a large cavern. He could barely make out the silhouette of a crumbling tower. "A Matron Mother is not going to be kind to you, Aly."

"She owes me," Alystin said without hesitation. She was confident of that much and Nedelyne Druu'giir was a woman who honored her debts, no matter who they were to. That meant she would undoubtedly be at the ruins. Besides, they had a history of cooperation and alliance going back centuries. If drow could ever be true friends, Aly and Nede were certainly that. The mage pulled up her own hood, almost vanishing into the darkness as her piwafwi's magic was activated.

As they approached the tower, the bittersweet pain in her chest returned. She remembered this tower clearly. It had been the first thing to jump to her mind when she needed a secure, secret space to meet with her old friend. Perhaps that had been a mistake, because now as she approached the spot, her thoughts strayed from the potential for present danger to the first time she'd kissed her lover. It had happened here, up in the tower. Clumsy, unexpected, and perfect. Aly's hands tightened into fists, one holding her staff even more tightly. She wasn't overly worried about an ambush or betrayal, not because she felt it was beyond Nede, but because she was significantly more powerful than she had been last she saw the Matron of House Druu'giir. How long had it been? It felt like lifetimes to even a long-lived dark elf like Aly, though she knew it had only been a couple of years.

"You should wait here," Aly said once they'd reached the standing archway that marked the entrance to the small ruined complex surrounding the tower. "I'll scream if something goes wrong."

"Oh, that makes us feel better," Linnan joked, though the humor in his voice sounded strained.

Aly flashed him a smile like summer lightning, there one moment and gone the next. "I'll be fine," she promised. "Just trust me."

"It's not you we're worried about," Nendir said quietly. "Be careful, Aly."

The drowess advanced alone into the ruins, alert for any sign of an armed presence. She didn't see anyone, but that didn't mean there was no ambush. Years of surviving by the skin of her teeth had taught her important lessons in caution. While she could afford to let her guard slip a little bit lower in Silverymoon under Alustriel's watchful eyes, she had no such luxury here in the depths.

There was a lone figure leaning against one of the stone walls, almost perfectly concealed. Alystin barely caught the outline—clearly another drow and a noble at that, if the enchantments were any indication. The wizard didn't relax, but she did pull her own hood down.

"It feels like it's been a long time, Aly," Nedelyne said, matching the gesture. She didn't look relieved to see her friend. Every muscle in the Matron's body was tense, strained even. She laughed, though, softly and darkly. "Coming back after everything is brave. Stupid, but brave. If the Church finds out you're here, they'll do unspeakable things to you."

"I know," Aly said. Her ring of _truesight_ allowed her to see that this was, in fact, Nede and not a disguise. Alustriel's gift had been very helpful over the course of their journey. She could barely think through all of the feelings raging in her mind: fear, dread, relief, pain, and the faintest flickering of hope. For the first time, answers were within her grasp. However ugly the truth, knowing had to be better than this horrible limbo. That assumption didn't stop her head from whirling as she sat down on a low wall. "I just…is she…?"

Nede's expression softened slightly. "She's gone, Aly," the Matron said. She wasn't unsympathetic, despite the reputation of her station. There were very, very few people that Nedelyne felt invested in, but Aly was one of them despite her problematic relationship with the drow world. She wasn't certain exactly what the mage and her companions had done, but she knew it had earned the disfavor of Lloth in a colossal way. "You need to let this go and get out of here while you still can. She wouldn't have wanted you to throw your life away for a fever dream. Go live, be happy, start over."

Alystin combed her fingers through her hair, feeling that crushing despair settle into her chest. She wanted to break down and cry, but something wouldn't let her. Maybe it was the fact that she didn't completely believe it. Sabal A'Daragon had always been violently, fiercely alive. The idea of her dead and gone just didn't feel possible. "What happened to her body?" the wizard said very softly, looking down at her hands.

Nede bit her lower lip hard, evaluating whether or not she should tell the truth. She knew it would be easier for everyone involved if she lied, but some gnawing part of the Matron reminded her that she owed Aly something approaching the truth. "There is no body," she admitted.

Alystin's head snapped up. "She's alive?"

The other drowess sighed and shifted uncomfortably on her feet for a moment before sitting down beside the mage so she didn't have to deal with looking into those pleading grey eyes. "She's out of your reach, Aly. Out of mine. In a thousand years, you won't be able to even find her."

"Where is she?" the wizard demanded, hearing the desperation in her own tone. She couldn't quite censor it.

"Not here." It was as if the words were being dragged out of Nedelyne. More firmly, she said, "Aly, you're not an idiot. Leave this be. Nothing good can come of whatever this is."

"Where?" Aly turned to her friend. "Nede, in all the years we've known each other, how often have I asked you for anything? Give me this. Please. Where is she?"

"In the Demonweb."

The words hit the mage like a physical blow, prompting an actual flinch. Of everything that she'd imagined—death, dismemberment, and worse—that had not been among them. Apparently the Spider Queen's displeasure was nigh limitless. "Oh," she said softly. Her mind started to race. If Sabal was still alive, no matter what plane she was on, she could be reached. Slowly, a determined set returned to Aly's jaw. "Where in the Demonweb?"

"Goddess," Nede hissed, rounding on her friend. "You're not serious." Whatever she saw in the wizard's face did not reassure her. "Alystin, please, listen to me. I know what you're thinking, but it's not possible. One woman against a greater deity is not a battle you want to fight."

Alystin would not be swayed, not in this. "Who sent her there?" she asked. "Nede, if there are even traces of the magic left, I can find her."

"It was years ago, Aly. Nothing's lingering," the Matron said. "The Revered Daughter is a clever woman. She covers her tracks."

"I can't open a gate," Alystin said slowly, methodically. "But you can _plane shift._ You could send me there."

"Yes, and you'd be either five miles away from her or up to five hundred," Nedelyne said. "I'm not helping you in this insanity."

"I'll take my chances. She saved your life and your House, Nede," the wizard said steadily.

"And I repaid her by saving you!" the Matron snapped before calming herself with a deep breath. "I'm not going to send you to a fate worth than death. For Sabal's sake, if nothing else. She gave up everything so you would be safe, not so you could go charging into the Demonweb alone."

"Not completely alone," Alystin said. "I have companions."

"I can't decide if that makes it better or worse," Nedelyne muttered.

"Alright, don't help me," the arcanist said a little bit more stiffly. It was her last ploy. "But my mind is set, and if you won't help me, I'll find someone else who will."

The Matron grimaced. "Oh, they'll send you to the Demonweb alright," she muttered. If she wanted Alystin to be as safe as possible in this absolutely insane endeavor, there was only one way to guarantee it: doing this herself. She hated the idea more than there were words in Drow to express the emotion, which was saying something. They had words for hate the way dwarves had names for rock. "Fine. Get your companions. But we do this _now,_ before I reconsider this lunacy _._ Besides, I'm likely already missed in Menzoberranzan."

"This means the world to me, Nede," Alystin said, keeping something of a rein on her gratitude and relief. She didn't want it to be too obvious, if only because of pride.

Nedelyne was something of an expert at reading emotions, however, and thus needed little cue. "You're a fool," she said harshly, trying to guard herself from the disappointment of losing her friend. She had felt better about the circumstance knowing that Aly was safe, even if she was on the surface. This was not what she'd wanted to see, nor what Sabal would have wanted. But on a fundamental level, Nedelyne was aware that Alystin would never be content or at peace without Sabal. Whatever the danger, the wizard would inexorably find her way to her lover. As far as the Matron could tell, it was some curse that had settled on the pair of them centuries ago: love.

"I know," Aly said before rising to her feet and heading back the way she had come. If she gave it too long, Nedelyne would most certainly withdraw her offer. Her companions were waiting and all stood up when she approached. "I know where Sabal is and I have a way to get there, but I have to hurry."

"Where's she at, lass?" Storunn asked.

The wizard swallowed hard at just the thought, feeling the faintest suggestion of tears that refused to fall. "The Demonweb," she said when she could breathe again.

An eerie silence settled on the small group. She wasn't certain what would happen next, whether they would accompany her or leave. The smartest move for them to make would be to part ways, but then again, they hadn't shown the best judgment by following her this far. It was Linnan who piped up. "Well, we'd better get moving then," he said calmly. "Right behind you, Aly."

There was a murmur of assent from the group, even from Nendir, who had the most reason to fear.

"The odds of us surviving this will be extraordinarily low," Aly warned them quietly. "And even if we do, we may never escape the Demonweb."

"Got to die of something," Storunn grunted, slinging his axe. He'd been checking the edge for cracks, not that he needed to. It was a beautiful piece of dwarven craftsmanship. He glanced back at Nendir as he and Linnan started moving in the direction of the Matron. "Comin', lad?"

"Of course," Nendir said smoothly.

It left Camran standing with Aly. "Go back," the drowess said quietly. "You have Maev waiting for you, Camran. We'll be alright. I can heal the others when we get into combat."

"I'm not letting you do this without me," the human said. He smiled reassuringly at her. "We understood the risks when we parted on the surface. Maev's a paladin, Aly. She knows about impossible odds and sacrifice and love. Neither of us would forgive ourselves if I abandoned you just because it's not going to be easy. Besides, I'm a servant of Sune. This is what I was called to do."

Alystin nodded. She had to look down and away for a second to collect herself before nodding. "Let's go, then," she said. She would still feel the twist of guilt in her stomach, maybe for the rest of her life, but she couldn't pretend she wasn't relieved to have Camran on her side. Together, they followed where the others had gone. Nendir was keeping his hood up to conceal his nature from Nede, for obvious reasons, but the others were easily visible for what they were: surface dwellers.

"I can't believe I agreed to this," Nede said. She knew she was on dangerous ground, but hopefully the Spider Queen would see it as an opportunity to wreak vengeance on an unfaithful soul who had done Her injury in the past. Whatever happened, someone would be getting an unpleasant outcome. She frowned deeply at Aly for her choice in companions, but didn't say anything. "You'll have to join hands if you want me to get all of you there in one piece and together."

The group held onto each other tightly, nerves showing in the strength of their grip. The fear was there, though hidden. Nedelyne started to chant, weaving her fingers in patterns. The air around the small group glowed and then they felt as though they had been ripped down through the ground, a horrible floating feeling taking over their stomachs. Alystin could feel consciousness trying to desert her as they fell through space. She clung to it even more tightly in answer.

The next thing she knew, she was connecting with hard ground. It wasn't a far fall, but it was still jarring. Her hands were still locked with her comrades', Camran on one side of her and Nendir on the other. All of them were still holding each other. The bite of a chill pierced through her clothes as some abyssal wind picked up. She let go of her friends and struggled up to her feet. "Goddess," she hissed when she saw the landscape stretching out before them.

An endless, dead plain of rocky chasms and gorges spread as far as the eye could see, forming a labyrinth of pits and dark, yawning holes. Giant petrified spiders stood here and there, webbing covering every apparent surface ahead—though they were strange and twisted webs, like nothing she had ever seen before. Eight bright, red stars gleamed above them in the night sky. Beyond, she could see a great iron citadel with some kind of river flowing towards it. The feeling of raw, primordial evil was everywhere. It pervaded every inch of ground and every breath of air. Alystin could feel it seeping into her body. The scar in her back from that cursed dagger ached fiercely in answer, residual infernal magics not mixing well with the demonic energies of the plane.

"Is it too late to reconsider?" Linnan joked after springing to his feet with an acrobat's ease.

Alystin took a deep breath and picked up her staff. It had been leaning against her shoulder when they shifted. She was surprised that it had come with them, but she was grateful for it. "I'm sure the demons here will be very accommodating," she said, focusing on the distance. She had no idea where to even begin. The plane's size was immeasurably vast and Sabal could be anywhere in it.

"What can we expect to meet?" Nendir asked. He could feel the corruption more than any of the others, his faith in the Seldarine serving as a massive handicap here—he would be sick and fatigued after only a few hours of hard walking or even less fighting.

"Nothing good, I'd wager," Camran murmured.

"All kinds of demons," Alystin said. "More than just yochlol serve the Spider Queen. Abyssal ghouls. Petitioners."

"Petitioners?" Linnan asked curiously. His inquisitive nature couldn't be dampened even by the Demonweb Pits, or at least not yet. Alystin supposed that in a few days, that might very well change.

"Drow here for their afterlife," the wizard said. She knew the lore of the Abyss well, and even though the Demonweb had separated from it, the roots and history were still very much similar. Granted, she'd never researched the Infinite Webs the way she had other layers of the Abyss. "They're even more dangerous than living drow, from what I've heard."

"Let's hope we don't meet them, then," Nendir said quietly. He pulled his hood back, less than worried about being spotted. Creatures here would know what he was anyway, and if they were caught, it would be a fight that even Aly couldn't charm her way out of. "Where do we go from here?"

Storunn shrugged and shouldered his axe. "Forward," he said gruffly.

"But do we have a way of detecting Sabal?" the ranger asked.

"Not yet," Alystin said, starting down a rocky approximation of a path. "I'll think of something. But for now, we need to move. The shift will have attracted attention to this area. If we can leave before anything reaches us…that would be better." She tried to pick a route that went between the thickest areas of webbing, but it was almost a lost cause. It was hard to move fast and manage to not be caught at the same time, so she erred on the side of caution and went more slowly. The group followed her: Storunn and Linnan right behind her, Camran and Nendir holding up the rear.

Their conversation fell quiet in the oppressively alien air. The sky above them was almost a complete, black void and had Alystin nursed any joy in her heart, she would have felt it snuffed out. This was not a world charitable to mortals or their soft emotions. The silence was broken only by their footfalls, largely muffled by ancient webbing, and the occasional curse as someone almost slipped.

It took them what felt like innumerable hours to get down away from the rocky overlook they'd landed on far enough for Alystin to feel slightly more secure. Nendir was exhausted and his face had taken on a grey pallor, but he hadn't said a word of complaint. She motioned for them to stop when they reached a deep, sheltered ledge just below the edge of a great canyon. The depths below were lost to darkness, but the area was easily large enough for a camp of ten or twelve people. "You alright?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder.

"Been better," Nendir admitted, swiping his brow with a shaky hand. "I think I'll get used to it. Just a little rough right now."

The drowess looked worried, but she nodded. "Let's stop and rest."

"Do we want to risk a fire?" Camran asked quietly, looking around. "I guess we could probably burn webbing. Not a lot of wood around."

Aly sat down and their elf flopped down on a stone outcropping, his breath coming in heavy pants. "I don't think we want to risk it yet," Aly said. She wasn't sure if deeper in would be any safer, but she knew they were likely in serious danger of being detected at the moment. Rations wouldn't taste good cold, but it would be better than nothing. She was grateful Camran had come. She wasn't certain how they would have provisioned themselves without the cleric's ability to create food and water—drinking or eating anything native to the plane sounded like a recipe for disaster. Still, she didn't want to tax him with casting it until they had to. For now, the normal rations and water that they'd brought would do.

Later, as she lay in her bedroll with a crimson spidersilk sash wound around her left hand, her thoughts took on a mind of their own again. She heard Nendir and Camran talking in low voices now that they were on watch, but she didn't care enough to try and make out what was being said.

A lot had changed since she'd last seen Sabal, even if she was just looking at herself. She'd done her best to stumble back towards the light, with the definite help of her companions. She wasn't certain if it had stuck. Certainly, for a long time she'd been angry. Hadn't Sabal promised to always be there? And yet, she'd run off into the Underdark towards certain doom instead of staying when Alystin desperately wanted—needed—her to stay. It was heartbreak of an almost unforgivable kind. Alustriel had done her best to gently explain Sabal's rationale, but that was a cold comfort to the hollow space where her heart had once been.

Anger, however, would never be enough to drive her away from Sabal. And so she tried to sleep to keep up her own strength, even though she knew exactly where her dreams would take her. They had been trying to fill the void left by absence for years now.

Alystin closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, one hand resting on her spellbook and the other on her staff, just in case.


	2. The Guide

A feather-light brush of lips across her cheek sent warmth coursing through Aly's body. She opened her eyes and saw amber eyes alight with some inner fire studying her. The wizard felt her heart leap for the first time since they'd lost each other and then resume its rhythm at a fluttering pace. By the time she realized that there was only the shadowy suggestion of that familiar scarred face around the amber eyes, it had vanished and her other senses reminded her that she was in the darkness of the Demonweb. The press of hard stone into her side distracted her from the powerful ache of longing in her chest and the sound of Storunn's champion snoring covered the soft noise prompted by that pain, which had slipped out without her permission.

Aly wasn't certain if it was her mind or the plane itself tormenting her, but she wasn't pleased. Either way, she would be more and more susceptible to the charms of demons the longer it happened. Heartbreak made for an easy victory for succubi and glazebru in particular, though she expected more appeals to love and lust than to her pride. The best defense in her arsenal was the ring of _truesight_ from Alustriel, but she wasn't certain it would be enough. "Your watch, Aly," Camran said quietly as he approached, worried that she was already awake. Their wizard needed rest, no matter how often she insisted she was fine. Besides, he didn't like how troubled she looked.

"Thanks," she said, offering him a smile to reassure him. He didn't look convinced, which came as no surprise. Their group had been together long enough to be able to read each other. Aly had also made a point of being honest with them ever since the deception that had been their initial quest came unraveled. It had recaptured the trust, but cost her the security of hiding her emotions. The wizard sat up.

She realized her spell-book was gone at the exact same moment she saw movement in the deep shadows nearby. Aly forced herself not to react, rising to her feet and moving towards their little lookout point. She had a powerful _fireball_ spell stored in her other ring, so she wasn't defenseless. Camran must have noticed the sudden tension in her movements, however, because he subtly nudged Linnan's boot enough to wake the halfling rogue.

"Peace, Alystin," a ragged female voice said from the shadows. The figure was cloaked in magical darkness and thus the wizard couldn't make out features. There was no Abyssal growl, but it was croaking and harsh from lack of use. It was also, Aly noted, holding her spell-book. Somehow it had moved right past Camran into their small camp and taken it without waking her. "I did not come here to do you harm."

"Then why are you here?" Aly asked in a level voice, doing her best to keep her tone from betraying her mistrust.

"To talk. To help," the figure said. It approached, still wreathed in magical darkness, as her companions jumped up with hands on their weapons.

"You'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you," the wizard said shortly.

The darkness evaporated and Alystin found herself looking at the face of a petitioner. The former drow was a wretched looking creature: hollow, dark cheeks and sunken, dark-red eyes with slit pupils were privation's marks on its face. Fiendish nature was plain in its whole being, its female shape infused with dark magic that Alystin could sense without even trying to discern it. Fingers and the toes of bare feet had become claws and yellowed fangs were visible when the creature spoke. It was dressed in red spidersilk cloth wound and draped around its body to form something like a toga. The creature paused, holding out Alystin's spell book to the wizard. "I do not expect trust," the creature said. Part of the reason for its harsh voice became apparent—there was some kind of oozing wound to its throat.

Aly stepped forward and grabbed the tome, though she didn't immediately lash out the way she wanted to with the stored spell in her ring. As much as she was suspicious, she was also curious. Obviously it was a trap. "Why do you want to help us? Who are you?"

"Because it pleases me," the petitioner said almost indifferently, its strange eyes studying the wizard appraisingly. "Does it matter who I am or why I wish to aid you? You will need my assistance if you are to reach your goal. It is as simple as that."

"It matters," Alystin said.

The creature let out a bark of laughter, a harsh sound that made the group shift uncomfortably. "I have no name. No one does, in this place," it said.

Storunn stepped forward to stand next to Aly, his axe at the ready. "Ye weren't always a monster," he said reasonably, though his eyes were just as suspicious as Aly's.

"The enemies of Lloth might disagree with you," the creature said. "In life, I was their bane. My people kept me locked away in a cage and made me cruel, then released me to bring Lloth's vengeance upon those who wronged Her."

"Then why help us, if you know who we are?" Aly said.

"Every weapon, no matter how strong, has its foible," it said. Those red eyes seemed to flash. "It would be wiser for you to content yourself with gratitude that mine bids me aid you. But let us speak of things other than myself: your purpose. I know why you have come here. You wish to free a woman bound here, and this is…good. But you are far from her—she is weeks on foot from here, and that is excluding the time you will likely spend in battle or licking your wounds afterwards. I know the way. I will take you there."

"Can we trust a creature so corrupted?" Nendir asked hoarsely. His rest had not eased his condition much, but he was going to soldier on anyway.

The creature laughed again. "I suggest you learn to," it said. "If only to save yourself future heartache."

"I have no better way at this time to find her," Alystin admitted. "In a plane of chaos like the Demonweb, even scrying is highly suspect. A guide attuned to this place could make much more headway, particularly if it knows Sabal." She looked at the creature. "Allow us to pack up camp and then we will follow you."

"Very well," the petitioner said. It looked pleased for a moment, but then its tone became more neutral and measured. "I will answer what questions I can in the fullness of time, but I will warn you: the truth will not bring you peace."

Alystin nodded, even though those last words twisted her stomach. She went over and packed methodically while the others did the same. They hadn't pulled much out of their gear, so it only took a few minutes. She walked up next to the creature as she adjusted the set of the pack on her shoulders. "How long will it take us to reach her?" she asked. Her first impulse had been to ask how Sabal was, what had happened to her, but she wasn't ready for the answers. She wasn't certain that she would ever be ready, though she planned to ask later all the same.

"An eternity," the creature said. "That is how long everything takes here. That is how long we have been here…or so it seems, in this place."

"We?" Linnan piped up.

The creature shrugged. "Myself. The one you seek. The others."

"Let's get moving," Alystin said. "We can ask more questions when we make camp."

"Agreed," Nendir said, starting to move even though he still felt terrible.

"A follower of the Seldarine?" the creature said with amusement. "How unfortunate for you, faerie."

The elf glared at the fiendish drow soul. "No one asked you for your opinion," he snapped, in an unusually unpleasant temper. His training was propelling him onwards, making it easier to bear, but it didn't cancel out the corrosive effects of the plane. He knew it would only get worse, and maybe kill him, but he knew he had time. Perhaps even the weeks that they would need to reach Sabal. Aly would be able to mitigate the effects, or at least so he hoped.

The petitioner chuckled, but started off in the direction they needed to go. It was leading the way into the maze of rifts and pits with a fearless air, clearly not overly concerned about the things that would meet them as they went.

* * *

Time did not pass in the Demonweb the way it did in the Material Plane—that much was becoming apparent. Alystin quickly found herself losing track of when she'd last rested or how many 'days' it had been as they forged ahead through the wasteland of a plane, narrowly evading roving packs of lesser demons and skirting around webs wherever possible. All of them were exhausted by the time they stopped at the end of every day, marked by the setting of the dull and distant red sun. Their guide had answered almost no questions—though perhaps that was because Aly didn't have the breath to ask them—and steered their path deep into the depths of the Pits. If they were being misled, they had no hope of recovering the true path at this point. They had wound their way through so many side passages and along narrow ledges in great rifts that it all blurred together, much like the passage of time.

When it was her watch, Alystin settled in with her staff across her lap. The creature was absent. It claimed to be off hunting during the night cycles, refusing to eat their food. "It brings memories," the creature had said once when Camran inquired as to why. Alystin wasn't certain that she believed their corrupted guide, but what choice did she have?

She heard a stone fall and looked up abruptly to see the creature returning, some kind of deformed, dead spider in its hands. Apparently it had been hunting after all, at least tonight. "The wizard is awake," the creature said with a chuckle before sitting down on a boulder a few feet away. It bit into the spider without even attempting to remove the carapace first, an unsettling cracking sound breaking the silence, accompanied by a horrible shrill squeal that made Aly realize the spider-creature had, in fact, been alive. Seeing the wretched thing eat the writhing spider creature was disgusting, particularly the way it casually chewed up the carapace and swallowed hunks of hard chitin as the legs quivered helplessly.

"That is disgusting," Alystin found herself saying aloud despite her naturally diplomatic tendencies urging her to keep her peace. She was horrified in a way she'd thought she was immune to.

The petitioner chuckled. "It is not always how I eat," it said. The struggles of its food came to a slow stop. "In the court of the Demon Queen, it is more like the great houses of the drow. But here? It suffices." It took another bite, powerful jaw enabling it to break another bite free with a horrible crunching sound.

Alystin sighed. She knew there was no way it would cease its meal. Besides, she had a more pressing question. She took a deep breath to steel herself. "What happened to Sabal?" she asked softly.

"The truth will not bring you peace," the creature advised, almost as if it was concerned for her now. But petitioners were demonic and consummate actors, so Aly discarded that idea.

"I still want to know," she said even though she was terrified of what the answer was going to be.

"Such is the nature of youth," it murmured. "You will learn better, someday. Perhaps now." It looked down at its spider, then up at Aly. "Her blood burns with the sweet agony of bebilith venom and the corruption of this place. Her eyes watch you die or worse thousands of times, thousands of different ways. Her limbs are helpless, restrained in webbing. Her stomach knots in ceaseless hunger and her throat burns with unquenchable thirst. It feels as though it has always been, will always be. All these things, nothing more than torment designed for those who fail the Goddess. I do not know if she is mad, but I cannot imagine that she would not be. The demons of this place have a gift for rendering down their victims to husks, until they give up on what they once were and become petitioners, slavishly attending to the will of the Demon Queen of Spiders. It does not matter what one was in life, not Matron or slave, male or female, faithful or not. Every story has the same ending."

"You lie," Aly said. It was an automatic accusation. This creature was trying to hurt her. Demons were sadistic. But then again, as some hidden part of herself pointed out, why would the creature lie if the truth was just as painful?

The creature's red eyes with their slit pupils almost seemed softer, for a brief moment. "I told you that it would not bring you peace."

Alystin covered her face with her hands. "If she'd just stayed…" the wizard whispered. She felt tears burning, but they still wouldn't fall. She had to keep it together. She could fall apart when it was safe. "Why?"

"Love is madness, death, destruction. All drow know it to be true," the creature said. There was something distant to its tone, as if it was recalling some ancient secret. "I knew it well."

Alystin's head jerked up. "I find that difficult to believe," she said in a low voice.

"Because I did not spare your feelings? Because I am no sympathetic ear?" the creature said, suddenly scornful. "How useful you would have been to her, blindly ignorant of her pain. No, I will make you understand, Alystin Kenafin, so that she need not."

The wizard narrowed her eyes. "Why?" she asked. It was unnerving to know that the creature knew her name, as she had certainly never shared that information with it. But then again, if she was truly hated here, she would be known to its denizens.

The creature shrugged. "I owe her," it said.

"Demons are not known for their gratitude," Aly said as she leaned back against the cold, hard rock that rose up behind her in a cliff-face.

"Part of me is demon, yes. Part of me is mortal. And when stirred, part of me remembers a time before this time, a life before this life," the creature said. It took a bite of its dead, twisted spider-thing and crunched thoughtfully for a long moment. After it swallowed, it continued, "She reminds me of it, like salt in an old wound."

"That sounds…painful."

The creature chuckled. "I always was a masochist," it said. "Just like her. To answer the question you so carefully refrained from asking: yes, I honor my debts. I did in life, I will do it in death. I am not as chaotic as many who walk this place. I believe in oaths, in vows, in obligations." It paused suddenly, then chuckled again. "Ah, but we are alone no longer. I can feel the webs vibrating: a hunter has caught your scent."

Alystin didn't stop to ask what the hunter was. She just jumped up to her feet with her staff in one hand before slamming one end of the piece of wood down against the blighted ground. Magical energy rippled forth, waking her companions immediately. They had all slept in their armor with weapons ready, something that no doubt contributed to their fatigue during the day. Now, however, they were mostly rested and clambered up to their feet…just in time for the massive arachnid demon—easily the size of a plow horse, its legs spanning a good fourteen feet—with a mottled blue-black carapace to come crawling down the wall at a rapid pace. "Bebilith!" the mage warned. She didn't know if her companions had ever even heard of one before now, but she knew they hadn't seen one before and thus would need the warning.

However, Storunn, Camran, Nendir, and Linnan needn't have worried. The bebilith had eyes only for Alystin.

The giant arachnid shot webbing that pinned their petitioner guide to the wall, eliciting a stream of curses from the fiendish soul. Then it leaped like a wolf spider at the wizard, its blade-like front legs serving as claws at the moment. Alystin had to hurl herself out of the way to avoid being pierced right through the abdomen by one, a blow that would have easily been lethal.

"Aly!" Camran called out, trying to get the wizard to flee their direction. "Storunn, draw its attention!"

The dwarf charged the bebilith, hacking right through one back leg with a powerful hew from his axe. Before he could even blink, he was hit by a web that sent him flying backwards into the others. He was pinned to the ground alongside Camran and Nendir, who hadn't managed to quite dodge out of the way as adroitly as their halfling rogue had. Linnan went running up cliff face along a rising, narrow ledge, moving parallel to the bebilith that was forcing their wizard further and further away from the rest of the group. Alystin's spells flashed in the darkness, doing the creature serious harm, but it was undeterred. How long could the mage really expect to stand alone? She was not meant for close combat.

Linnan leaped down from the ledge onto the demon's back, plunging his blades through the jointed plates of chitin with his whole body-weight behind them. The creature let out a shrill squeal and lunged forward, sinking its fangs into Alystin's shoulder. The rogue heard the drowess scream in pain despite herself, but she didn't go down. Instead, there was a flash and he could smell a distinct, burning odor from the front of the bebilith. The demon was starting to shudder and shake in an effort to fling Linnan off.

Behind them, their companions were breaking free of their webs. Storunn went charging after them the moment he was free, while Nendir grabbed his bow and let an arrow fly. The petitioner had clawed itself free and went running the way Linnan had up the cliff face.

Few things had ever surprised the halfling more than the sight of a fiendish drow soul launching itself through the air straight at him with its black sword drawn. The creature came down on the bebilith's abdomen behind him with a solid blow that sunk the wicked blade up to its hilt into the demon. The shrilly screaming demon went careening towards the edge and Linnan immediately sprang up, leaving his daggers as he nimbly launched himself off and back towards the rest of the group. Their guide followed him with an animalistic leap, dark face contorted into a snarl.

Alystin was swaying on her feet, but still standing. Camran moved immediately to her side and began the work of curing the venom that was burning through her blood like a black fire before it could wreak complete havoc on her body. Storunn clapped Linnan on the back so firmly that it almost winded the halfling. "Nice work, lad," he said.

"There will be more, unless we move," Nendir said.

"The faerie is correct," the petitioner said. The creature raised its open hand and barked a command word. The black sword appeared in its hand, conjured up by the mere force of the former drow's will alone. The display did not put the small group at ease. "Though it is worth saying that the advance will take us into Drasira's Labryinth. It is the lair of one of the Demon Queen's most powerful handmaidens. Her power is great, and there will be many servitor demons."

"Got to die o' somethin'," Storunn said with grim confidence. "Aly?"

"Better," the wizard said reassuringly. Camran's healing magic had purged the venom from her system. She still felt weak and cold, but she would be able to carry on. "If we must go through this Drasira's domain, then so be it. What do we have to expect, petitioner?" It was the most polite mode of address she could think of for the creature, considering it had refused to give them a name.

"Drasira will seek to break you, turn you into servants of our mistress," the fiendish soul said with a shrug. "How she does so depends upon her victims. Everyone has their weaknesses, but rest assured: she will ferret them out no matter your defenses, and she will exploit them."

"Is it far?" Nendir asked, leaning against the wall.

"No," the creature said. It pointed to the narrow, broken path leading down into the darkness of the rift that they were camped at the edge of. "That is the way. Soon, we will be in its depths."


	3. Traps

The subtle feeling of wrongness was something Aly couldn't escape, even as she walked down the hall towards the library. The halls themselves were a far cry from the austere quarters of apprentices, filled with paintings, framed magical texts, and graceful sculptures. She may have been noble, but she was far enough down in the ranks that people cared less about what she did, the only reason she had even been allowed to study arcane magic despite her sisters' best efforts to beat it out of her. The pain had only hardened her resolve to improve and study, her sole rebellion against her family. The Matron had thought it almost as amusing as it was frustrating and granted her permission in the end, though with caveats intended to set the budding wizard up for failure.

"There you are. We've been waiting for _hours_ ," Nede complained. The priestess-to-be was there waiting, wearing plain street clothes rather than the robes of a novice. She was standing beside a figure who made Alystin's heart stutter.

Sabal A'Daragon stood at an average height for her race, but she always seemed a little taller, even when she was smiling that barely-there smile. Her lean frame was lined with many scars even in youth and the angles of her face were sharp from malnutrition in her youth. Her amber eyes were as lively and wild as ever, perhaps the most expressive part of her face. "Took you long enough," she teased Aly.

"Sorry," Alystin said automatically. She could feel a surge of emotions boiling towards the top. Her eyes stung and her vision blurred.

"Goddess, Sabal, way to hurt her feelings," Nede said with a laugh.

"What's wrong, Aly?" Sabal said, eyes concerned. She stepped over and pulled the wizard into her arms.

Alystin rested her head against Sabal's shoulder, trying to stop herself from crying in relief. Sabal's hand stroking her hair was only making it harder not to. "I missed you," the mage said thickly.

"I'm sorry," Sabal said softly. "I didn't mean to hurt you, _ussta ssin._ You know I love you."

Alystin froze. "Sabal," she said quietly. "You never said you loved me at the Academies."

The woman sighed. "We're not students any more, Aly." She looked hurt when Aly jerked back away from her suddenly.

Alystin glanced down at her lover's hands. There was no sign of the ivory band Sabal had worn faithfully for well more than a century. "Then where's the ring I gave you when we graduated?" she said, looking back up at Sabal. The wrongness was intense now. Why couldn't she remember what she'd been doing that had caused her delay? Why was she back at Sorcere? Her memory was screaming at her. Brief visions of her friends caught in battle started to flicker back to her.

"What?" Sabal said, looking suddenly flustered. "Aly, it's me. I—"

"Prove it," Alystin said as her hands balled into fists. She could feel a fury roaring to life inside herself. How dare they impersonate the people she cared about? She didn't have her staff or her spell-book, but she did have a few powerful evocation spells stored in her rings. "What did you say to me the last time I saw you?"

"Aly, it's been a long time—"

"You're not my Sabal," Alystin snapped. Without hesitating, she hurled a powerful _fireball_ right at the two figures. Visions of Sorcere vanished in an instant, showing her a barren, dark hell-scape of twisted and polished black stone lit by dully glowing braziers. The two smoldering figures picking themselves up off the ground looked like Sabal and Nede still, but their demonic nature had been revealed: horns and claws, bat wings and tails.

"Clever thing," the one that had been impersonating Nede said, its words a hiss between clenched teeth.

The one that looked like Sabal advanced cautiously on the mage. "It's not my fault this place made me into a demon, Aly," it said softly. "I still love you. Isn't that enough? We can find a way to change me back."

"You're not my Sabal," Alystin repeated, gaining confidence from her anger. "You're trying to tell me what you think I want to hear. I know what you are, demon."

"Aly, please," the demon said gently. Before it could make any further plea, Alystin blasted it with another _fireball_.

While it was trying to regain its senses, Aly cast _mage armor_ on herself. She had one _fireball_ left. After that, she would be down to her fists. It was not an ideal situation. Why didn't she have any spells prepared? The answer was obvious to her: she must have already used them, which meant there had been quite the battle. The second succubus went to lunge for the wizard when a black blade burst through its chest from behind. Someone had run it completely through. The demon slumped over, revealing its assailant: their petitioner guide.

"Apologies," the creature said to Alystin. "It took me some time to locate you."

The succubus that looked like Sabal threw itself at Aly, knocking her over in a grapple, no doubt intending to use its draining kiss on the wizard. Delicate though the mage might have seemed, however, she was still combat-trained. Aly slammed her head into the succubus's face, earning a screech from the creature. Without a dagger, she couldn't end the creature, but that blow from her forehead broke the grapple enough for the petitioner to drag the demon off.

Without a word, the fiendish drow soul drove its ugly blade through the succubus's head. "Nice work," the petitioner commented, watching Aly pick herself up. "They wouldn't have gone down nearly so easily without those fireballs." It held out Aly's spell-book to her. "Take the time to rest and prepare."

"What about the others?" Aly asked.

The creature shrugged. "They won't be going anywhere," it said. "They are caught in their own webs, as you were. They are less skillful at breaking away. I imagine you are more trained in aspects of the mind than most, though I hear your cleric is doing an excellent job of not yielding to temptation."

Alystin cracked a smile. "That, or they're doing a poor imitation of Maev." On a more serious note, she continued, "I need a safe place to prepare and at least a few hours." She didn't want to have to take so long, but she was already cutting it close by not really resting. She would be exhausted by the end of this as well.

"This way," the creature said, gesturing for her to follow. As they walked, it said, "Drasira will know something is awry in a few hours, when they do not report back. But until then, we have time to recover our strength."

"I don't remember how we came to be here," Alystin admitted. "But if I'd used up all my spells…"

"It was a fierce battle," the petitioner said. "But then Drasira sprung her trap, using the magic of the plane to bind you and your comrades. For obvious reasons, I was not so contained. From there, it was easy for her to captivate you in an effort to learn your secrets. I moved into the shadows, waiting for one of you to break loose. I'm not surprised it was you."

The wizard wasn't certain she bought that excuse, but it was possible. She would have been in a very bad spot had the petitioner not come along, so she decided to let it go without any interrogation. It was charity repaid by a grudging sort of almost-trust. She followed the guide through side passages to a small alcove where the mage could conceal herself and study her spell-book. Alystin pressed herself into the shadows where she would be better hidden, though her white hair might give her away without a piwafwi to pull up over it. She wasn't certain where her cloak had gone. If they'd stripped her of items, they had done a poor job of it. After all, she'd still had her rings. It was likely overconfidence on the part of the demons, the succubi operating on the assumption that she would be so thoroughly ensorcelled that she wouldn't even think to use her stored spells.

Her guide kept watch while she studied and prepared, hand on its sword. It was silent as it watched up and down the hall, expression stern.

Finally, after some indefinite amount of time had passed—Aly hoped it had only been a few hours of brief rest and study, but it was hard to tell—the wizard rose to her feet. "I'm ready."

"Then let us begin," the creature said. It sounded confident of their chances, even though the odds were not necessarily in the favor of just the two of them. "I can take you into the visions of the others. They are not together, so it may take us a while to recruit them. I would suggest the priest first. He will not be able to hold out much longer."

Alystin nodded, wishing she had her staff as an extra level of security. "Let's hurry, then."

They hurried through the passages until they saw a blurring, swirling ward ahead. It was clearly designed to keep something in rather than to keep things out, because it offered no resistance as Aly and her guide passed through it. They broke out into a familiar setting: Maev's room in the manor house that belonged to her family. Alystin had visited many times over the duration of her stay in Silverymoon, so she recognized it immediately. She also recognized Maev's voice coming from the bathroom, faintly hurt. "…don't you love me?"

"I do," Camran responded, sounding troubled. "But it doesn't feel right, Maev. I don't want to take advantage of you."

The wizard had never been so glad her friend was almost stupidly honorable. She walked straight through the doorway to see a deeply torn Camran with a naked Maev in his lap. The succubus masquerading as the paladin was still wet from the bath that she'd probably been taking when he came in. "Camran, it's time to go," Aly said in her best authoritative voice, gripping her spell-book more tightly in one hand as she readied another vicious spell.

Camran went red. "Aly, what are you—" he started to ask, clearly embarrassed.

Maev ignored the mage for a moment, leaning in and pressing her lips against Camran's before he could react. Alystin could almost see the life leaving him. The cleric started to struggle, clearly aware of what was happening, but the powerful suggestive effects of that kiss were stealing the strength and conviction to fight from his body. "Protect me," the succubus ordered when she pulled back, climbing out of Camran's lap. She made no attempt to cover herself, dodging back further into the room to avoid Aly and the petitioner.

"Camran, I don't want to hurt you," Aly said when the cleric jumped up to his feet, drawing his dagger. It was the only weapon he had on him, his staff laying by the drowess's feet.

"I have no such compunctions," the petitioner said pleasantly. There was a horrible, banshee wail that split the air as some invisible force rippled forward in a surge that knocked Camran off his feet backwards.

Aly knew that sound very, very well: powerful psionics manifesting. She looked over her shoulder reflexively, hoping to catch sight of Sabal. But her lover was nowhere to be seen. When she looked back, she saw that Camran had been bowled right over and the petitioner was advancing on the succubus with a blade drawn. The human cleric was dazed, but starting to regain himself. Alystin would need to intervene before he killed the fiendish soul that was—no matter how temporarily—on their side. She stepped forward and caught her friend by the arm as he picked himself up, assisting. "You don't really want to fight us, Camran," she said in a reasonable tone, trying to appeal to the parts of Camran that were struggling against the compulsion. "I'm your friend, remember?"

"But Maev—" he started to say plaintively even as he halted his aggressive action. He wasn't looking in great shape between the psionic blow and the succubus's draining kiss.

"That's not her," Aly said. "We need to find the others."

There was a shrill shriek from the succubus when the petitioner hacked into it. "Camran!" it screamed.

Camran went to lunge at the petitioner's unprotected back, but Aly jerked hard on his arm to prevent him from reaching their guide. "That's not her!" she said again.

"Camran, please, you can't let them kill me!" the false Maev started to beg with tear-filled eyes. Before the demon could make another plea, the petitioner brought its blade down in a vicious arc that silenced the succubus forever. Once it was dead, the demon's true form was revealed.

The cleric of Sune shuddered a little bit. "Did you have to kill her?" he asked in a quiet voice.

Aly put a hand on his back. "I know it looked like Maev, but it wasn't her," the drowess said. "Your love is safe, sound, and waiting for us back in Silverymoon. Now let's get out of here so we can get you back to her, okay?"

Camran nodded, looking a little bit more certain even if he was still pale. "Where are the others?" he asked. "The last thing I remember is the entrance to the Labyrinth."

"Ahead, somewhere," Aly said. She looked to the penitent, ignoring the measuring and somewhat amused gaze of the creature. It seemed to be enjoying Camran's distress far more than Alystin was comfortable with. "Who's next?"

"I would advise the dwarf," the creature said, motioning for them to follow it again.

Camran picked up his staff without further word and set off after their fiendish guide. The wizard was right beside him as he moved, free hand glowing with the faint light of a held spell.

Storunn was not far away. The sound of revelry spilled through the halls, a dwarven shouting match easily audible above the roar of a crackling fire and the general sound of people having a good time. Aly lead the way through the ward to reveal Storunn in the midst of dwarves who could only be his clan, standing on the table and waving a tankard as he recited the tale of their adventures to his audience of disguised demons.

"There are a lot of them," Camran said uneasily.

"That might be a problem," Aly admitted. She sighed and focused on the task at hand. "Storunn!" Her voice broke through the merriment, drawing the attention of every demon in the room. "It's time to go!"

"What, don't Sabal be missing ye?" Storunn said with a chuckle. "Lass, ye oughta have better things to do than bother me and me kin."

"Storunn, do you remember what you were doing?" Camran said, trying to keep his tone from showing his nerves at all the demons present. They were likely less powerful, but there were quite a few of them.

"Aye, lad, I was drinkin'!" Storunn said with a big grin. "An' before that, I was fightin'!"

"Fighting who, Storunn?" Aly pressed. "This is important."

A look of puzzlement crossed the dwarf's face, which was enough to make the ringleader among the 'dwarves' stand up. "They're just trying to ruin a good time, Storunn," the disguised demon said. "Typical elf."

"Storunn, we have unfinished business," the wizard said. "You can come back here when it's done." It was a lie, but she didn't want to give him nearly as much room to object right now as insisting that he leave and never return would.

"Do ye listen to dark elves over yer own kinsmen now, Storunn?" one of them bellowed with a laugh.

Storunn frowned. "Ye watch yer manners with that dark elf," he warned thunderously. "Aly's a good un." With that, he looked at his companion. "Right behind ye, Aly."

"Then you die!" one of the demons snarled. The illusion suddenly evaporated and they were surrounded by bloated, putty-faced dretches. Storunn barely looked perturbed, probably because he was deep enough into his cups that slamming a tankard into the head of the nearest one seemed like a good idea. It was more effective than what Aly had been expecting, certainly.

The dark elf hurled a _fireball_ into the midst of the group of dretches, narrowly missing Storunn. The dwarf didn't seem bothered in the slightest, wading into combat with the demons wielding his tankard as a blunt instrument and the lid of a keg like a shield. It amused even the petitioner with them, who joined the fray much to the displeasure of the dretches. They were cowardly creatures by nature and the moment the advantage was turned against them, they split and ran. Not that they made it far, between the spells of the casters and the powerful attacks generated by Storunn and the fiendish drow soul with him. By the end of the fight, Storunn and their guide were spattered with demonic ichor and a little bruised, but mostly uninjured.

"Little buggers," Storunn said calmly, watching them go. He went over and picked up his axe from where it was laying on the now-exposed stone floor. The illusion had vanished around them. "I'm guessin' that we didn't win yet, then."

"Correct," Aly said. "Now we just need to find Linnan and Nendir."

"Me?" a voice chirped from the door on the opposite side. The group looked up to see Linnan step through, looking particularly small and concerned at the moment. He was a little paler than last they'd seen him, ruffled, and spattered with demon blood.

"You freed yourself?" Aly said, scrutinizing him. There was no illusion active on him that she could see.

"Dunno about that," Linnan admitted. "Just ran away. Not sure any of us are really free yet."

"He is perceptive, for a surfacer," their guide commented. "Drasira's servants must have used the wrong bait with you, halfling."

"Yeah," Linnan said, brushing his shaggy hair out of his face. "They figured I'd be in it for the gold and the like. Don't get me wrong—I love coin. But I like having people to spend it with more and they didn't nail their impression of you guys."

"Good to have you back," Camran said with a grin, patting the halfling on the back as they joined him. "Now we just need Nendir. Then we can take on Drasira."

"We will be doing those two things at the same time," their guide said. "Last I heard, the yochlol was interrogating him."

"I suppose it's too much to hope that she'd play 'good copper'?" Linnan said, trying not to cringe at the thought of what his friend was going through.

The petitioner chuckled. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, halfling."

"Tell me you have healing spells ready, Camran," Aly said. She knew better than to assume Nendir would be in fighting shape when they reached him. The cruelties of demons were virtually limitless. However, she did know that the elf would be defiant to the last. Nendir was, in her estimation, a good soul. Occasionally almost stupid in his bravery, but fundamentally good. They got along far better than two ancient enemies should have.

"I do," the cleric answered, flashing his friend a reassuring smile.

Relieved, Aly nodded. "Then let's move," she said. "The sooner we find Nendir, the better."

* * *

"You will tell me why you are here," the yochlol said. It was in its natural form, a large eight-tentacled mass that resembled melted wax, its foul stench almost unbearable to the elf. He was shackled on a rack, limbs pulled until they were in agony and straining at the joints. It seemed to be gazing at him with a violently malevolent curiosity, though he also got the feeling that it was intensely puzzled by the appearance of an elf in the Demonweb.

Nendir maintained his silence, glaring at the one-eyed demon.

"Obstinacy will gain you nothing," the demon said. "Your friends have already revealed everything I needed to know. You are merely confirmation…and amusement."

The elf closed his eyes for a moment. He didn't believe the creature in the slightest. It wouldn't have been prying so deeply if it really knew their intentions. He chuckled faintly. "I hear the Hells are nice this time of year," he said dryly. "You should try them on for size."

The rack tightened another notch, wrenching his already stretched limbs. Soon things would begin to really tear. "You are plotting something. Revenge, perhaps." He could hear just the faintest trace of irritation and impatience in the creature's tone. "Did Corellon send you?"

Nendir caught a glimpse of the door creeping open ever so slowly. No demon would ease it open like that. He was confident that his back up was finally here. "You'll get yours, demon," he said with a sudden grin. "But if you want to know who sent me? No one. I came all on my own."

Before the yochlol could ask another question, it was set upon from behind by a furious Linnan, who had broken rank to assault the creature. The demon let out a shriek and abruptly changed forms, taking that of a giant spider as it whirled around. Drasira would be no easy foe to handle. However, the same could be said of the group that had just come through the door with spells and weapons at the ready. Alystin's lightning bolt narrowly missed the halfling, aimed with her usual precision. It was followed by a roaring assault from Storunn and the banshee wail of psionics manifesting. The arachnid-shaped demon wielded its legs and fangs to dangerous effect, flinging Linnan out of the way as it focused its assault on Camran. It recognized a healer as a problem.

"You have forsaken your mistress!" the demon snarled at their petitioner guide, recognizing the creature for what it was.

"A temporary betrayal, something you should appreciate," the fiendish drow soul said with a grin. "We all while away the time somehow." The grin was wiped off a second later when a leg struck the petitioner, hitting the creature with a _vampiric touch._ The wounds on the yochlol seemed to heal as the demon inflicted fresh ones on the group's guide.

Storunn hacked through one of Drasira's legs with his axe only to find himself on the receiving end of a venomous bite that punched through his armor. Then the creature shifted back to its natural form, lashing out at Aly with a tentacle that knocked the wizard against the wall hard enough to crack ribs. The demon whipped all seven of its remaining limbs at its assailants with considerable effect, bludgeoning Aly again, as well as striking the petitioner, Storunn, and Linnan. It couldn't quite reach Camran, who had fallen back to heal the damaged wizard from behind.

Drasira was giving as good as it was getting, but the group had two healers between Alystin's tailored spells and Camran's divine magic who could bolster the group. The relentless psionic attacks from the fiendish drow soul were brutal as well. They forced the hissing and enraged yochlol back against the wall, giving Camran space to release and start to heal Nendir. The elf pushed past the cleric towards his gear despite the ache in his limbs, grabbing his bow and an arrow. He grit his teeth through the pain as he drew his bow and let an arrow fly. The projectile hit the yochlol right in its single, red eye. Drasira let out a shriek and lashed out wildly, flinging Linnan and even the normally steadfast Storunn backwards.

The demon surged blindly at the source of the arrow, crashing forward and bulling Camran out of the way as it sought out the elf. Alystin grabbed it, ice suddenly exploding across the gelatinous surface of the demon. "Nendir, watch out!" she called to the elf even though she was fairly certain that he was well aware of the rapidly approaching danger.

Drasira suddenly and abruptly changed directions, using its body to slam Alystin up against a wall and pin her, making it almost impossible for the wizard to cast. Tentacles entangled the struggling drowess, twisting her limbs and seeking to crush the life out of her. The demon again used its _vampiric touch_ spell to drain strength from the mage and heal its own wounds. "You will die here," the yochlol hissed to its current victim.

Camran hit the demon with his staff, but couldn't draw its attention from Aly. She was saved instead by the piercing of Linnan's daggers into the yochlol's back and the cleave of Storunn's axe. The wizard gasped when Drasira dropped her, pulling desperately needed air into her bruised lungs.

It was Nendir's sword that finally put an end to the powerful yochlol. Beset on all sides and still blinded, the yochlol was not prepared for the blow coming out of nowhere. Nendir was weaker than usual by far, but his aim was still good enough to do lethal damage to the already fading demon. However, it was no easy victory. Alystin was battered nearly to pieces by the end, and Linnan didn't look much better. Their guide was just as wounded as the halfling, though the fiendish soul appeared largely immune to the pain of its wounds.

Drasira slumped to the ground with a hiss, melting into a vile puddle that let off a nauseating gas. Nendir stumbled back away from the corpse, gagging at the reek. "It's dead," he said once he'd regained himself.

Storunn hacked at the body a few more times, just to make certain. "Aye," he said once he was satisfied that it was properly dead. "Gods, but they don't go down easy."

"How's Aly?" Camran asked, approaching the fallen wizard and the battered halfling. The petitioner was currently bending over the barely conscious drowess.

"Hardly time for beauty sleep," their guide said, stirring the mage with a foot. "Get up, wizard."

Alystin struggled up to her feet, swaying and shaking from the effort. She held her side with one arm, the other hand using her staff to support and steady herself. "I'll sleep whenever I please," she snapped at the creature.

"Fiery," the fiendish drow soul said with amusement. "Good. You'll need the burn."

Their cleric of Sune reached out, healing the worst of Aly's injuries with a touch. She would still be bruised and battered, but it was the best he could do while maintaining enough spells to heal Nendir and Linnan as well. Storunn was sporting a few contusions and lacerations, but he seemed to be enduring the poison bite of the yochlol with relatively few ill effects. The dwarf was a little pale and queasy, but his strong constitution was in full showing.

"Goddess," Alystin hissed out when she felt her cracked ribs. She'd expended her few healing spells during the fight—for the most part, she'd prepared evocation spells like a proper battlemage. Not being able to rely on summoned creatures made things a little bit more dangerous, but she wasn't going to risk being turned on by a demon. Elementals were an option she should probably start considering, she knew. Not that knowing that would have helped, considering she hadn't thought to include summoning spells in her list.

"Try not parrying with your body," their guide advised the mage and the rogue with that same black humor. "I hear proper defense is all the rage in the rest of the plane."

Alystin and Linnan both glared, but they also bit their tongue…at least, for the moment. The wizard was holding off for a different reason than Linnan. That wounded throat, the psionic powers, the red cloth, being a creature kept on a leash in life, understanding obligations and vows…the mage had an inkling now of what creature she was dealing with.

"We need a way out, before more demons come," Nendir groaned as Camran finished the incantation for his healing spell.

"Aye," Storunn said by way of agreement. "Let's not be wastin' time now."

"This way," the petitioner said, nodding its head towards the far door. "I would advise taking what you can."

"Xullae, wait," Alystin said without a hint of fear.

The creature's head whipped around in automatic response, a remnant of its past life, and then its crimson eyes narrowed. "Don't push your luck, wizard," it said abruptly before starting towards the door.

Alystin knew then that she was right. She knew exactly who the creature had once been. It was a conversation to be had at another time, now that she knew enough to have it. The group limped onwards, grabbing potions and assorted gear as they went to be identified and divvied up later.


	4. Reunion

Nendir wasn't certain what to make of the petitioner any more. It had a name now, or at least Aly had called it by one. That made it seem more like a person than he was comfortable with. It was easier to write it off as a monster. "Who was she?" he asked the wizard as they sat on watch, his eyes focused on the darkness where the creature in question had vanished, off to hunt whatever prey it could find.

"Sabal's mentor," Aly said. "I know they were close, at least when Sabal was a girl. I never thought…Goddess, I wish she was still alive. I mean, she probably would have killed me, but she did so much for Sabal…and to end up like this…" The wizard sighed.

"How did she die?" Nendir asked.

Alystin's grey eyes were somber when she looked at him. "That's not for me to say," she said. "That's up to Sabal. Or Xullae, I suppose." Her thoughts were with her lover. Did Sabal know that Xullae was like this? She didn't pretend to know how badly that would hurt.

"I think it is only fair that the elf understand what kind of world we live in," the petitioner said, emerging from the shadows empty-handed. It made both the wizard and Nendir jump. Those red eyes with their slit pupils were serious and there wasn't a trace of a smile on the fiendish drow soul's lips. "One of us had to die, and so I made the choice for her. It wasn't her fault. All she did was strike the blow."

"Sabal killed you?" Nendir said, eyes going wide. "And you're _helping_ us?"

"Yes," Xullae said simply. Her tone suggested that she thought further elaboration would be a waste of air. "Now sleep while you have the chance, faerie. I have no intention of being slowed by you any more than necessary."

The elf looked like he had a thousand more things that he wanted to say, but he nodded and went over to his bedroll, leaving Aly awake on watch to speak to the creature. For her part, the wizard was quiet for a long moment as the petitioner took a seat a few feet away on a rock, positioned to look out into the darkness for any hint of more demons. "How far away are we?" Alystin asked quietly after a few minutes.

"Some weeks," the fiendish drow soul answered almost absently. "There are many battles awaiting between here and there, but somehow I don't think that will shake your resolve much. You have stubbornness enough to give Sabal a run for her money."

"I love her," Alystin said. Her grip on the staff leaning against her shoulder tightened for a moment. "I'm not going to leave her."

"I understand," Xullae said quietly. "It will hurt to see her as she is, to see what they have done to her. But I think that even with all the illusions and the torments, she will recognize you. For all their deceptions, the demons here have never managed to replicate the minds, the souls, of the loved ones they use in their torture. Sabal's powers offer her a way out of the nightmare, though whether or not she can follow that way is…debatable."

"What about you? What will you do when we find Sabal?" Alystin said, studying the serious features of the petitioner.

"I have yet to decide," Xullae said. She sounded preoccupied with the notion, giving it careful thought. "I cannot follow the path that you walk. My service to the Demon Queen is eternal. The vows that bound me in life now shackle me in death."

"They'll punish you for helping us," the wizard observed.

The fiendish soul chuckled darkly. "Let them," she said. "It will only give me power in my hate. When I died, they broke me and reformed me into this. If they reap what they sowed in this way, they richly deserve it. Though the irony is amusing, isn't it?"

"If you say so," Alystin said. There was something discomforting about the way Xullae grinned at the idea, showing her fangs.

The pair lapsed into silence for a few minutes before Xullae twisted in her seat to look at the wizard. "Be good to her," the petitioner said in a more muted, almost concerned tone. "It has been…difficult…to watch."

The wizard offered the twisted former drowess a small, genuine smile—the first she had managed to crack in some time. "Of course I will," she said. "Xullae, no matter what happens, no matter what condition she's in, she'll always have my heart."

Xullae was staring at her in a measuring way, gauging her sincerity. After a moment, the petitioner nodded. "Good." It was the end of their conversation for the watch, the creature retreating into its usual brooding silence. Alystin didn't mind too much. Now that she knew who it had been, she felt almost comfortable with the fiend. Certainly, the massive distrust she felt had eased.

* * *

The road through the Demonweb was as harsh and grueling as could be while still being called a road. The battles they fought blurred together into one long combat as they pushed on deeper and deeper into the plane. Perpetually wounded and exhausted, the group was rapidly approaching a breaking point. Alystin wasn't certain how much longer they could last without collapsing. Her own body was moving forward, one foot in front of the other, out of sheer willpower—and the others were no better. Nendir in particularly looked like a dead man walking, shuddering and swaying now with every step.

There was never a word of complaint from any of her companions, however, which made the dark elf wizard incredibly grateful. But then again, what point would whining serve? They were long past the point of no return. Alystin leaned heavily on her staff. It really did feel like they'd been here an eternity. Her life up to the point she'd stepped into this abyssal plane barely felt real, it was so far removed from this suffering. The dull, red sun was beginning to sink low behind the horizon when Xullae abruptly stiffened, probably sign of another battle. That wasn't good; Alystin and Camran barely had any spells left and everyone was injured.

Then, the creature said something Alystin had been waiting to hear for a very, very long time. "We're here," the petitioner said, waving a hand at the dark void yawning ahead of them. "She is below."

Alystin's knees wanted to give out in relief, but she kept herself moving. They were close, but they hadn't reached their goal yet. She heard the others sigh in relief almost as a one. Linnan shot up a rock wall like a spider to get a better view. "There's a way down over that way," the halfling said helpfully, pointing off to their left. "I can see a bit of the path going down. How far below is she?"

"At the bottom," Xullae said, clawed hand resting on her black sword. "I do not know the precise distance, but I will tell you this much: I would not try and jump down."

"Let's get moving, then," Camran said, a sudden cheer returning to his features. He looked very much pleased, as did the others. Even Nendir's wan face brightened at the news they were almost to Sabal.

The depth was easily over a mile. They took a narrow, switchback path tangled with webbing down towards the bottom, almost slipping and sliding in some parts. Supernatural darkness quickly enveloped them, broken only by the grainy, graveyard glow of the small light that Alystin summoned out of necessity. The only one of them who could see here without it was Xullae. It was dangerous to have it, as it might attract the attention of demons, but it was necessary.

Alystin felt a clawed hand touch her elbow and almost jumped even though she knew it was Xullae. "Be warned," the petitioner said quietly, just loud enough that the group could hear. "There is a great bebilith here, or at least it looks like a bebilith. It can speak. I have seen its like nowhere else in the Demonweb. They call it Daemoch and it is that creature's venom that burns through Sabal's veins. It will come when it realizes she is escaping."

"Any other demons we need to worry about?" Nendir asked.

"Yes," Xullae said. "Kisuhr and Sydolhar are the yochlol that the Demon Queen has charged with her torment. They will be in the area even if they are not currently doing anything to her. We should be on our guard. I would say they are as dangerous as Drasira, at least when added together."

"That was not an easy battle, Xullae," Alystin said. She hated herself for saying it, but she continued, "We need to rest and prepare, or we'll die down here."

The petitioner nodded. "There is a relatively safe hollow at the bottom. Sabal is some distance to the north from here. If we are careful and have no fire, it is possible we can pass unnoticed."

They reached the bottom with only a few more scratches and scrapes, bruised and battered from their recent battles. Alystin stored her remaining spells in her rings while Camran healed the group as best he could with the last of his effort. Then the human practically collapsed like Nendir had, asleep on the rocks without even a bedroll. Storunn checked his armor as best he could without taking it off, too worried about the assault of a demon to really relax. Linnan set to work sharpening any knives that might have gotten dull. Nendir was awake but largely immobile, counting his remaining arrows. He had fewer than he would have liked. Xullae took up her position as silent sentinel on an outcropping of rock above them, melting away into the shadows.

Aly could barely focus on her spell-book, knowing how close Sabal was. She was terrified of what she was going to find, but the tiny flame of hope she had been carefully tending to had burst into an inferno. Suddenly, the impossible seemed more and more possible. Still, she diligently prepared more spells before slipping into the light rest that only elves could maintain. At this point, she was willing to trust Xullae enough to forgo a watch. They all needed the rest.

Miraculously, they were not attacked. The moment they were awake, Alystin grabbed her bag to leave. Her friends were quick to follow her and the petitioner. Anxious energy was flowing into the wizard's limbs now as they approached. The taint of evil seemed even deeper here, just like the darkness. It was bitter cold away from the light of the dim, red sun and not even Aly's piwafwi could keep it at bay. Even the normally so-hearty Storunn was shivering slightly in his chainmail.

Ahead, they saw a female figure hanging from the webbing, shoulders hyper-extended from their position. Long white hair obscured the face that was tipped forward as the head hung loosely. The clothes that she wore were basically rags at this point, shredded in places by claws that had left deep wounds. There was no sign of demons in the area, but they would not be absent long. The woman's feet were just barely brushing against the ground, unable to support her weight.

Nendir saw the wizard start to pull forward and caught Aly by the wrist. "We don't know that it's her," he cautioned. "And we don't know that she's alone."

His friend's grey eyes were tormented. "It's her," Alystin whispered. She couldn't explain how she knew, but every instinct in her body was certain. It took everything in her power to not drop her staff and spell-book and bolt forward. She had to force herself to move cautiously.

Nendir frowned as they approached. He saw the figure's fingers and toes were claws rather than normal digits, that the body at least superficially resembled their petitioner's form. It was entirely possible that she'd undergone that transformation even if she hadn't really died, but he didn't want to tell Alystin that. He wasn't a magic user, but he could feel the corruption radiating from the suspended form. "Aly, be careful."

If she'd heard him, the wizard gave no sign. She set down her staff and handed her spell-book to Camran before approaching with a soft tread. The dark elf was afraid of a lot of things at the moment, but never her lover. "Sabal," she whispered as she reached out, brushing some of the hair back to reveal a familiar, scarred face. She tucked the white hair back behind one dark ear, letting her fingertips trace down the line of earrings. It was something that had always made Sabal smile and now made Alystin's heart feel like it was going to shatter. There was a thin layer of frost and cobwebs over most of Sabal's now-twisted and fever-wracked body, but her face was relatively clear and unchanged. " _Ussta xukuth,_ it's me."

Sabal's lips moved soundlessly. Unfocused amber eyes opened, revealing slit pupils that gave her an even more feral look. The second try for words was a raw, weak sound. The third, however, was more successful. "Aly," she rasped.

Alystin felt herself smile even as the tears started to roll. Instead of answering, she kissed the tortured wilder gently. She framed Sabal's face with her hands, brushing her thumbs along the horizontal scar that ran across her lover's cheekbones from one side of her face to the other. The taste of her own tears didn't bother her in the slightest, not when she finally had Sabal close enough to touch. She pulled back reluctantly, when she had to. "It's me," she said again, still stroking the wilder's face. The wizard knew her lover wouldn't believe it at first, at least not until she'd seen into Aly's thoughts. All the same, she wrapped her arms around Sabal and touched her forehead to the wilder's. "I missed you so much." When she felt the familiar psionic brush against her own mind, she made no effort to resist or hide anything.

The mage could see the change in Sabal's expression, which went from being glazed and distant to focused just on her. It was impossible to read the many emotions that all tried to express themselves simultaneously. Sabal's tempest-like mind pulled away from hers in an instant and the wilder started to struggle against the webbing even though there was no way she was strong enough to free herself. Nendir moved in, slicing through the webbing with his knife until Sabal slumped towards the ground. Camran and Storunn caught her, but she struggled out of their grip in an instant. For a brief second, Alystin was terrified Sabal was going to run, maybe under the assumption that this was some demonic trick. Instead, the wizard found herself pulled into a tight hug. Sabal's body was cold and thin, as much of the muscle she'd used to have wasted away, but Alystin had never been happier to hold her.

"Love you," Sabal whispered in that same raw voice, so quiet that her lover was the only one who heard it. She closed her amber eyes, soaking in the sensation. The wilder was conscious enough to know that they wouldn't have much time, but she didn't really care. She stroked Aly's hair with one clawed hand while the other held the mage close.

"I love you too," Alystin said softly, leaning into the touch carefully. She didn't want to put weight on Sabal and have the wilder collapse.

Linnan barely had the heart to disturb them. "We need to move," the halfling rogue said gently, though he didn't like being an intrusion. "Sabal, you good enough to walk out of here?"

"We will not be walking," Xullae said. When they looked at her, the petitioner didn't smile. Her eyes were focused on the darkness above, keen eyes able to detect the approach of something large through the webs. "We will be running."

Camran quickly unslung Sabal's sword from his back where he'd been carrying it. "Sabal," he said, offering it to their ragged friend. He touched her arm, allowing healing magic to flow into her body in an effort to swiftly restore her to running shape.

"Leaving so soon?" a silvery, feminine voice asked. "And without even saying goodbye? How rude."

Two female drow figures detached themselves from the darkness, these showing no evidence of any fiendish transformation. They looked just like clerics of Lloth, very much out of place in the midst of the Demonweb despite their associations with the Spider Queen.

"You must be Kisuhr and Sydolhar," Alystin said in a voice that came out surprisingly level for the sheer rage that she could feel burning through her. These things were responsible for what had happened to Sabal

"The Spider Queen will be _pleased,_ " one of them said. Both were grinning. "Who would have thought that you would be so foolish as to come here yourself, little heretic? Your death will be a far better torment than anything we could have conjured up."

Sabal hit the closest yochlol like an avalanche despite her condition, her powers manifesting with a banshee wail of impossible volume and pitch, sending the other demon sprinting for cover. As a wilder, her strength drew directly from her emotions, and their threat had been enough to ignite a firestorm. Alystin hit the running one with a thin green ray of magic, a _disintegrate_ spell. The creature let out a yowl, but was powerful enough to barely avoid becoming ashes.

The yochlol Sabal was fighting switched to its demonic form and wrapped its tentacles around the wilder, trying to crush her in its grip. Nendir's arrow hissed past his friend's ear, striking the yochlol with enough force to prompt a yowl from it. Before he could follow it with another arrow, a giant arachnid dropped from above: a bebilith of incredibly size. It had a body the size of a battering ram and legs that extended much, much further. Nendir and the others had to dive out of its way or be impaled by the sharp ends of its legs.

"You're looking well, Daemoch," Xullae said with a tight smile as she backpedaled clear of the enraged spider-demon. It was clearly not pleased by the notion of losing its favorite victim. Her goal was to goad the creature into attacking her rather than the more fragile members of the group.

Eight hateful, asymmetrical eyes focused on the petitioner. " _You,_ " it hissed. "This was _you_! Traitor!"

Without a further word, it threw its bulk at the fiendish soul. She'd sufficiently drawn its attention to allow Nendir, Storunn, and Linnan to attack the creature without fearing serious reprisal or worse, a bite. Daemoch's venom was a special hell all of its own, more potent than that of any other bebilith the petitioner had ever encountered. But she could withstand it, where the others would just die.

Storunn found his axe deflected by the demon's hard carapace rather than biting in. The bodkin points of Nendir's arrows, so good at punching through normal armor, sank in through joints in its armor only maybe an inch or two, nowhere near enough to do lethal damage. Linnan's knives had no better luck, leaving score marks on the hard shell of the creature—just a few more amongst many such marks. They were hardly the first to try to combat Daemoch.

 _Run!_ they heard the petitioner order in their thoughts. _I will lead it away!_ The compulsion was too strong to just disobey out of hand. The group whipped around and charged after where Aly and Sabal had vanished into the darkness.

They found Sabal ripping at a fallen yochlol with her sword, one clawed hand holding its blade to shorten it up so it could be used up close. The creature was shrieking and wailing, hitting Sabal with spells that frequently seemed to melt off. The physical damage was much more detrimental to the wilder, who didn't have the health or stamina to just shrug off blows, even if her rage was propelling her onward with great success. Alystin was just behind her lover where she could heal effectively, fingers weaving a spell to close the wounds rapidly appearing on Sabal. It had been a long time since they were together—not the longest they had ever been separated, but too long—and despite that, they were working together as a seamless team.

"Aly, where's the other—" Nendir started to call. He was cut off by the bulk of a large spider hitting him: the second yochlol in another form. Fangs sank into his shoulder and he felt the venom immediately. Of all the group, Nendir would be the least able to fight it off unaided in his condition. The Demonweb had not been kind to him.

Camran immediately grabbed his comrade, curing the poison. He'd prepared for this. Meanwhile, Storunn and Linnan wasted no time in attacking the yochlol. The dwarf cleaved into it from the side, while his rogue friend darted underneath its spider form and drove his blade up underneath where the carapace was thinner. The long dagger punched right through, earning a squeal. In immediate reply, it hit Storunn with a _dominate_ spell. The dwarf staggered back, trying to fight off the unwelcome intrusion into his mind. The creature entangled him immediately in a web before scaling the wall rapidly to try and escape Linnan. However, the halfling shot up the wall right after it, emboldened by his gloves and boots of _spiderclimb_.

"Careful!" Nendir called to their rogue as he let an arrow fly that struck the yochlol at the juncture where its abdomen met its head. That too actually seemed quite effective. It leaped out from the wall to attack him and Camran, shifting back to its natural shape and lashing out with all eight tentacles. However, Linnan followed it from there too with an acrobat's leap. He landed on the demon with two long daggers out, sinking up to their hilts in the creature's back. Their cleric bashed it in the eye with his staff even as it flailed at them.

It was an ugly battle, but they hacked and battered the demon to death as quickly as they could. Alystin and Sabal finished off theirs at about the same time, the wilder dragging herself back up to her feet once her ground-fight with the demon had finished. She looked exhausted, so Aly slipped one arm around her lover's waist and slung Sabal's arm over her shoulders to support her lover. "We need to go. Where's Xullae?" the wizard said.

The four surfacers looked back. There was no sign of the petitioner or Daemoch. "She said she was going to try to draw it away so we could run," Nendir panted.

"Then that's what we'll do," Alystin said with a confidence she in no way felt. "She'll be back."

That was about the moment they heard staggering feet headed their way. The petitioner emerged from the darkness, looking horrible: left arm dangling awkwardly where it had been torn from its socket, deep puncture wounds in one side, and a sweaty, shivering complexion. "You are all terrible at following directions," the fiendish soul said sourly. "Let's go."

"Where's Daemoch?" Camran asked, approaching the creature to heal as they all moved back towards the path upwards.

"Staggering around confused. Lucky assault on its mind," Xullae said with that same displeased air. The fiendish soul popped its own arm back into its socket with a snarl. "Keep your holy magic away from me, priest. Now, this way!" With that, she led them back the way they'd come. It was no solution to the problem of escape, but it would get them away from the immediate threat of Daemoch coming back to its senses.


	5. Talks

It was a long time running, maybe days, before they were able to collapse feeling even a little secure. In all that time, Alystin had barely gotten to even touch Sabal. They would help each other up when one fell, Sabal's clawed hands still covered in that fine layer of frost. They hadn't talked, breath coming in ragged pants, but Alystin could keenly feel the absence of their once easy closeness. There was just cold and a conflict raging behind those amber eyes. Alystin could almost feel the tempest every time Sabal glanced at her. For the most part, though, her lover was focused on the path ahead.

When they slowed to a stop, Alystin still felt her body buzzing with nervous energy. Sabal's distance was making her heart ache and her stomach knot. They had found a small tunnel in the edge of one of the rifts, mercifully unoccupied. It had a second exit, which meant that if they were attacked one way, they could retreat through the other. It was a good, defensible, sheltered spot. Now she just had to figure out how to talk to Sabal without making it worse.

"We can stop here." Xullae was leaning against the wall as she spoke, even her fiendish resilience put to the test. Nendir collapsed the moment his bedroll was laid out, leaving Camran and Storunn to put him in a more comfortable position. Linnan was no better and Camran was flagging.

Aly nodded, immediately warding one exit and layering both with alarm spells. "I can take watch," she said.

"No," Xullae said bluntly. "You have something more important to attend to. The dwarf and I will see to it. When we are too tired, we will wake the others for a change in watch."

The wizard hesitated for a second, then nodded. She looked down the warded tunnel where Sabal had retreated to and took a deep breath before leaving their safety in her comrades' hands. Xullae was right. Alystin hadn't come this far to lose Sabal to whatever was happening inside her mind, and there was a threat of that if this was left unchecked. She went after her lover.

Sabal was a brooding figure on a small outcropping of rock, sitting with her fists at her sides as she stared into a distance only she could see. She didn't turn or react when Alystin approached, the silence oppressive and cold. Suddenly, the void between them was almost immeasurably large and Aly wasn't certain how to bridge it. She only knew that she needed to, more than she needed air.

"Sabal," she said softly, her own voice hoarse from running. "Talk to me?"

Sabal shook her head, avoiding Alystin's eyes even when the wizard knelt down in front of her. It was a strange, perverse parody of that sunlit day in Alustriel's gardens. She recoiled away when she felt Alystin's fingertips brush against her clawed hand, but the wizard managed to catch her anyway.

"Look at me," Alystin pleaded. She must have sounded desperate enough to stir at something inside Sabal, because those amber eyes flickered to meet hers, slit pupils opening slightly in the darkness.

Sabal's eyes had always been the most expressive part of her face. Now they were maelstroms of pain and fear, uncertainty as plain in them as suffering. The wilder looked like she wanted to say something, but no words came for a long moment. Then she turned her eyes away. "You shouldn't have come."

"Nothing and no one will keep me away from you." Alystin tightened her hold on Sabal's hand so she couldn't pull away. "You would have come for me in a heartbeat if I was the one trapped in this horrible place. I love you, Sabal. I always will."

"You love the memory of me." Sabal's voice was muted and dull. "Not this...thing."

Aly kissed the palm of the hand she was holding, lingering against Sabal's skin and leaving some small warmth in her wake. "Look at me, Sabal." When amber eyes focused on her again, she kissed the wilder's palm again. "I still love you. I know you've probably heard demons, wearing a face that looks like mine, say in a voice that sounds like mine, that I don't, but this is the real me. Touch my mind and you'll know."

Sabal shook her head. "I'm a monster."

"Never a monster, _ussta ssin_ ," Alystin said.

Sabal jerked free of her hold. "How can you look at me and call me beautiful?" she said harshly.

Alystin knew that look: pain. Sabal had never been one to quietly nurse her heartaches. She tended to lash out at people and vent her anguish that way. "Because you are. You will always be. I know you're hurting. Let me take some of it away."

Sabal shook her head, but she didn't flinch away when Alystin kissed her, their lips meeting again—this time with something soft rather than desperate intensity. Clawed hands gently pulled Alystin flush against Sabal's gaunt frame, holding the wizard close with the barest amount of pressure, as if Sabal thought she would vanish at too tight a hold. Alystin wound her fingers in her lover's white hair and relaxed into the kiss. The tension was still there in Sabal's body and the wizard could feel it even without a psionic sixth sense, but by fractions of inches, it was fading.

"Sabal, trust me," she whispered when she had to pull away to breathe. "I will never let you fall. I will never leave you. Whatever happens, you will always have me, just like I know I'll always have you."

"I left you." Those amber eyes were tormented. "You should hate me."

"You did this for me. How could I ever hate you?" Alystin could hear the tears building in her own voice. "I missed you so much, _d'anthe_. I hated not knowing what had happened, not knowing when I would see you again, not knowing if you were alone and hurting where I couldn't save you. I hated that. Never, never did I hate you. I love you so much that it hurts. If I could go back in time and take your place, I would do it in a heartbeat. But I have you now. I'm never letting go again. I know you, Sabal A'Daragon. I love you more than anything in the world. I would spend a lifetime in this place gladly if it meant I could have you."

"I feel the corruption in me. It rots me from the inside out." Sabal hesitated, but then brushed her fingertips over Aly's cheek, trying to anchor them both without scratching the wizard with claws. "I can't be who I was."

"You don't have to be anything for me but who you are now," Alystin said softly. She sighed and smiled slightly. "I'm just happy to have you again, _d'anthe_. I missed you more than you will ever know." She covered Sabal's hand with her own, holding it to her cheek, as her eyes turned more pensive. "Do you still want me?"

"Always," Sabal whispered. She rested her forehead against Aly's, looking into those silvery eyes. It was hard to believe that the wizard could still look at her with that kind of adoration. Maybe it was because she didn't know how deep the corruption ran. "Where do we go from here?"

"Up and out," Aly said. "There are gates that the demons use to pass between here and the Abyss. I can hijack one, give it a location on the Material Plane for a minute or two. We'll find a way back. And then, we can be together. No one in the Underdark will come looking, not if they think you're rotting in the Demonweb."

"I can't be on the surface like this." Sabal closed her eyes so she didn't have to see the disappointment in Aly's eyes. "Even if you don't see a monster, they will."

Alystin knew that her lover had a definite point, but she refused to give up on the idea. "Maybe Alustriel will have an answer."

"I have forgotten what it is to hope," Sabal admitted.

"Then I'll do it for both of us until you remember how to." The wizard brushed white hair and some strands of webbing out of Sabal's face. "Will you come lie down with me? I want to be close to you. Maybe that will warm you up."

Sabal nodded unsteadily, standing up. Her movements were jerky and stiff. Alystin recognized anxiety when she saw it. "It's just me, Sabal," she said softly, well aware that succubi had likely tried to take advantage of Sabal during her imprisonment. "I don't expect anything. I just want to hold you. If you don't like it, that's okay. I'm not going to be angry."

"I want to." Sabal's tone was hesitant, but not deceitful. "It's just...hard."

It was easier once she made it to Alystin's arms. There was no seduction there, just safety. Warmth slowly seeped back into the wilder's cold body, the chill that shrouded her fading with the heat radiating off of Aly. She hid her face in the wizard's shoulder, relaxing into the touch of the hand running up and down her back. It felt more than good. It felt...right. She let out a shaky breath.

"I'm right here," Aly murmured gently, feeling a glow of warmth at the center of her chest at being able to finally hold Sabal again. The wilder would be fragile for a while, maybe a long time, but they were together. She lingered half awake for a while, waiting until after Sabal's breathing was deep and even to close her eyes and try to sleep. She didn't know what would happen when they left the Demonweb Pits, but she knew she would be there for Sabal no matter what it took. There was a chance that they would never be able to reverse the transformation and corruption, but Alystin didn't care. Eventually, the wizard's thoughts ceased racing and allowed her to sleep.

For the first time in a long time, there were no nightmares for Aly. Even her sleeping mind seemed to understand that she had Sabal back in her arms again.

Alystin woke up to the sound of her name whispered near her ear. Sabal's body had changed enough that it almost felt unfamiliar in her arms, but her voice was unmistakable. There was a moment where she thought she was still dreaming, but the claws on the hand stroking her hair were evidence enough that it wasn't a dream. She opened her eyes and studied the slitted amber ones that were looking at her. They were still definitely Sabal's eyes, even with the change. "Are we leaving?" Aly asked, her voice a bit thick from sleep.

"They're moving around like they're breaking camp," Sabal murmured, resting her forehead against her lover's. "How do you feel?"

The wizard smiled sleepily. "So much better now that I have you. It will be even better when we have a bed again."

Sabal nodded, but her eyes were still doubtful. She had long ago given up hope of ever having that again. Even her memories were clouded by the forces at work in the Demonweb. She pressed her lips to Alystin's forehead, trying to savor the warmth that the wizard brought with her. She didn't want to get up, not if it meant losing this fragile moment. She felt like she had her arms around smoke, as if Alystin could vanish in a heartbeat. Worse yet, there was always the chance that all of this could be revealed to be a demon's game, an illusion manufactured by the Demonweb to torment her. Even if it wasn't, there was no hope in her heart of escaping Lloth's realms. They would be caught and she would have to watch Alystin's torment. The cruelties of this plane were infinite. She had seen the future in her own torments, what the demons would do to Alystin if given the opportunity. If the wizard died here, her soul would never escape, even if Sune had claimed it.

Alystin's hand cupped her cheek, bringing warmth with it. "It will be alright," she said softly. "We'll find a way, no matter what happens."

Sabal nodded slightly. She didn't believe it, but for Aly's sake, she would at least pay the thoughts lip service. She gave the wizard a slight squeeze before shifting to get up. Neither of them really wanted to, but the wilder's keen hearing could make out footfalls approaching. There were certain advantages to the corruption. She could see herself coming to appreciate it more fully now that she wasn't currently enjoying the tender ministrations of this plane's denizens. She sat up, eyes turning towards the approaching person.

It was Nendir. The elf's complexion was ghost white and the dark circles around looked like livid bruises. Sabal doubted he had much time left if they stayed on this plane, though her grip on the meaning of time was weak. She felt as though she'd been here, down in the dark, for eternities. Her old life had become more and more like some fever dream that she had no way to capture. The only thing that really felt real anymore was pain. It surprised her that Aly's touch had been able to cut through the haze, but it brought with it a warmth that she'd long ago forgotten how to feel. The elf gave her an apologetic smile. "I didn't want to wake you two up, but we're having breakfast."

"Thank you," Sabal said. Her voice was rough and weak still, but she could make herself understood.

"It's good to have you back, Sabal. Everyone will want an actual chance to talk to you, though I'm not sure we'll have it here," Nendir said. He seemed in better spirits now that they'd accomplished their objective. "Now we just have to get out of this place."

Alystin sighed. She almost didn't feel like she wanted to get up, but she knew they couldn't afford to stay. If Nendir was able to walk, she had no excuse. "It won't be easy, but it's doable," the wizard said as she levered herself up. "Particularly with our guide's help."

"About that…" Nendir said hesitantly. "The petitioner wanted to talk to you when you woke up, Sabal."

Sabal nodded a bit more unsteadily. She had no memory of encountering her mentor in the Demonweb until her release. There were only the visions. That said, she'd recognized Xullae even through the haze when they made their escape. She wasn't certain what to say or how to feel. "Thank you," she said again. "We should go have words."

"Don't forget to eat something too," Alystin said as she rose to her feet after her lover. She reached out, catching Sabal's clawed hand to give it a squeeze. When the wilder looked back at her, the mage offered a smile. "Someone has to look after you, _d'anthe_."

Sabal felt that faint warmth again, seeping into the ragged remains of her soul. She didn't smile, but her expression softened slightly for a moment as she looked at Alystin. "I will," she promised before reluctantly moving away towards the rest of the group.

Behind her, Nendir gave Aly a smile. "Well, some things don't change. She's as wordy as ever."

"She's still there," Alystin said, a tentative relief in her tone. "We talked a little."

"It'd take more than demons to bring down Sabal," the elf said. He seemed in better spirits than he had been since they arrived in the dark plane. "She knows she has you to come back to."

The wizard smiled despite her cares. "I'll be here as long as she wants me and even if she doesn't."

"Aly, she's always going to want you. I'm no priest of Sune, but I know that." Nendir helped the wizard pack up her bedroll. "Let's just hope she and our guide have a good heart-to-heart. I'd hate to see the two of them fight."

Out with the rest of the group, Sabal's return was met by smiles. Camran held out a bowl to Sabal. They were down to basically gruel and traveling rations, but it was warm and more substantial than the unending hunger that Sabal had become accustomed to. "It's good to see you," the priest said. "Xullae is waiting out by the stone pillar to talk to you."

Sabal took the bowl. She could sense the good magic in the priest, a little flicker of holiness in the endless ocean of night. All of them were winks of light in the abyssal darkness. They were fragile creatures, a hair's breadth from being snuffed out entirely. Words came to her out of the fog of memories. "Did Storunn cook it?"

Her companions laughed. "Nay, lass, we left that to Camran," the dwarf said. He seemed immeasurably cheered by her comment, taking it as a hint of Sabal they'd known.

Sabal nodded and padded off into the darkness, towards the mammoth stone pillar that marked the edge of their camp. She sensed her mentor's mind before she saw the woman, though the cold, silvery surface was tarnished by the corruption of the plane. The Demonweb had tainted Xullae as certainly as it had twisted Sabal. She stopped beside Xullae, trying to think of something to say. It had been so long and so much had happened that she wasn't certain where to begin.

"I thought about leaving," Xullae said without looking over at her. it had always been easier for the two of them to talk when they weren't looking at each other. Eye contact made it feel too honest for creatures like the servants of Lloth. "Once you were freed. I thought my fate would taint your memories of me. Ignorance is easier sometimes. But your companions couldn't find their way out of a paper bag, let alone the Demonweb."

"Thank you," Sabal said softly. "I owe you a debt I will never be able to repay."

"I had forgotten for so long the woman I was. Seeing you was picking at an ancient wound, but I found I could not leave it alone. As every creature in this place, I have done so much wrong. You were a reminder that I was capable of doing something right." Xullae sighed, a mortal sound coming from a demonic aspect. "I will miss it, that old wound, at least until I have forgotten everything again."

"You could come with us," Sabal offered.

Xullae shook her head. "I have my place in the cosmos, a mote of wretched dust in this unkind plane. I will return to my afterlife, my slavish attentions to the whims of the Goddess. I will serve her in every breath and rejoice in my oblivion. I desire no escape. The thoughts of mortality were sweet fantasy, but they have no place here."

"Xullae—"

The petitioner smiled faintly. "Those syllables mean so little to me." She glanced over at Sabal, red eyes at once alien and familiar. "You are more than what I was, more than I could have hoped you would be. Even in the face of eternal torment, you did not abandon the one you love. More than any mortal accomplishment you have achieved, this pleases me. When you return to the Material Plane and the life that was ripped from you, carry with you the memories of me before I became this...thing. Remember who I was when I can no longer recall. That is all I ask in return for my aid."

Sabal nodded unsteadily. She didn't want to leave her mentor, not down in this horrible place, but she knew when Xullae was giving her final decision. "I will never forget you," Sabal said quietly. "Or what you've done for me."

The petitioner's answer was that same, faint smile. It was only there for a moment before she changed the subject. "Daemoch is stirring in the webs. He has not found us yet, but I have no doubt he will sense your desire to escape and make for the nearest gate."

"Can we reach another?" Sabal asked.

"Not if you wish to preserve your faerie. He will not last the weeks it would take us to navigate to another. We cannot hope to best Daemoch in a pitched battle. I will draw him away while your wizard seizes control of the gate. If done with skill and the blessing of good fortune, you will be gone before he realizes what magics have been worked." Xullae sighed, glancing back at the others. "If not...well, we will see. Eat your food and prepare. Leaving this plane will likely be the easiest part of starting anew—easier by far than escaping the corruption that eats away at you. Without the Demonweb, it will still burn fiercely, but perhaps you will recall more of who you once were."

Sabal nodded. That was more than she could have hoped for, really. "Alystin believes there is an answer."

"Of course she does," Xullae said. It was hard to tell if her tone was wry or just dismissive. "That is the nature of a lover. And what of you, Sabal?"

Sabal glanced down at her own clawed hands. She didn't remember what she had looked like, not really. There was just a pervasive sense of wrongness to everything about her body now, as if it belonged to some other creature. Perhaps that was just a matter of having been locked inside her own mind and the constant illusions for so long. "I...do not know what to believe."

Xullae nodded a little bit, indicating that to her it was understandable to not share Aly's firm belief in searching for an answer. That kind of faith was hard to muster for any denizen of this plane, if even possible. "I am going to scout the way," the petitioner said. She glanced over at Sabal again. "We are beasts of our nature, Sabal, but it may be that you will have the choice that I did not." With that, the petitioner vanished into the shadows.

Sabal looked into the darkness after her mentor, thoughts churning. It took her a minute or so before she sipped at the gruel. It felt strange to actually have food again. Almost as soon as she'd eaten anything, she felt sick. The gnawing hunger remained, but her attempt to sate it was going nowhere. Was it any surprise that some souls just became abyssal ghouls, the all-consuming hunger devouring every other part of their personality? Was that to be her fate too? Sabal padded back to the camp. Her companions were talking, but they kept their tones hushed. Everyone was well aware that they were still far from safety. She held out the bowl to Alystin, who had taken a seat on one of the slabs of stone with her spellbook at her side. "I can't," she said softly.

Alystin looked up, worry creeping into her features. "Sabal—"

Sabal felt another hunger pang. She wanted to eat, and it smelled good, but the taste had made her stomach roil. "It's making me sick," she admitted.

The wizard reluctantly took the bowl. "It may be the effects of Daemoch's venom or your transformation. Xullae wouldn't eat our food either, though she claimed that was because it brought back memories. I'm never certain whether she's being honest or not."

"She wants to forget," Sabal said quietly. "It would be...easier, to exist here, without being reminded constantly of a place you no longer belong." She knew they were words that would worry Aly, but she couldn't bring herself to censor them.

A delicate hand covered Sabal's. The touch was soft and unmistakably Aly. "We were never very good at easy," the wizard murmured.

Sabal nodded. That much she could remember, even through the haze. Her life had been so much struggle and strife. The only bright spot that she could even vaguely recall was the mage. "Xullae said that Daemoch would be waiting at the nearest gate," she said instead of addressing that feeling. Fragile things like that, like Aly, didn't belong in the Demonweb. "But it is our only option."

"We can't beat that thing," Linnan said softly. "Our weapons couldn't pierce its carapace."

"It may be possible to draw it away," Sabal said. "But even then, we will not have long."

"If the gate is already open, it will only take me a minute to change its destination," Aly said. "But if it's set to some other abyssal plane, it might be spawning demons. Even if Daemoch isn't there, it will be a battle." The wizard quickly ate the gruel that Sabal had abandoned.

"Well, we'll fight through 'em," Storunn said, as if the world was that simple. "Ain't met an axe-proof demon yet, except the giant spidery thing."

Nendir rubbed at his eyes. "Who's going to draw it away?"

"Xullae said that she would," Sabal said. "She has no intention of following us through the gate."

"Can we trust her?" Camran asked softly.

Sabal nodded. She wasn't certain how her mentor had changed, but she was sure that if Xullae wanted to hurt her, it would have been a straightforward injury. Scheming had never been Xullae's go-to mechanism for achieving what she wanted. She could be maddeningly straightforward for a drow, though she had her deceptive bent. "If she wanted you dead, I would know it."

"You know her better than we do," Nendir said. He wasn't certain how corrupted Sabal was, but he wanted to believe her. "Are you strong enough for another battle, Sabal?"

The wilder nodded. She could feel the hate along with the hunger, an equally unpleasant and powerful force gnawing at her soul. Even the thought of killing a demon made a little shiver of joy run through her body. She had suffered for an eternity. The opportunity to inflict even a tiny portion of that pain onto something else was a chance to be relished. "It is ever a pleasure to burn," she said. She still didn't smile, but she could feel the desire to under the surface of her thoughts.

Her tormentors and anything like them would not live to regret what they had done.

Camran shivered slightly at the malice in her voice. Combined with her demonic transformation, it made Sabal look decidedly monstrous. He had no doubt that the first fiend to even move towards Aly was going to have its head ripped off, possibly literally. "We're here to escape," he reminded the wilder softly. "That means we can't stop and fight the horde."

Sabal nodded, but she seemed preoccupied by the idea of killing. Her claws flexed almost like a cat's as she retreated into her thoughts for a moment.

Linnan was worried, and he knew he wasn't the only one. He glanced over at Aly, reading her concern in her expression. "Well, we'll know what we're doing when we get closer, I suppose," the halfling said, hopping up. "Let's get going."


	6. At the Gate

**Author's Note:** _Hi. So it's been a while, but I fully intend to work on this more consistently and often, as life and crippling depression ease their death grip on my brain. There will be more following this chapter, so have no fear, it is not ended._

* * *

"We can do this," Alystin whispered beside Sabal's ear. She could see uncertainty, perhaps even fear, on her lover's face as the group as a whole gazed at the planar gate currently spawning a dozen dretches that would someday be transformed into more powerful demons. The wizard was prepared for the battle ahead, feeling the most rested she'd been since they came to this horrible place.

"I know," Sabal said despite the fact that her heart was anything but certain. "I don't see Daemoch."

"He's here," Xullae said with certainty.

"We'd best hurry, then," Camran said, lifting his staff. He put a hand on Sabal's shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "We're with you, Sabal."

"Nendir needs to be the first one through that gate," Aly said firmly. "He can't handle the effects of this plane for much longer." Truth be told, he was already so weak that Alystin wasn't certain if they could save him. It hurt.

"Don't worry about me," the elf said. Nendir looked like a ghost.

Sabal knew his odds of survival were particularly thin, but she wished otherwise. He had come to the Demonweb for her sake. The little sliver of her that was untainted wished better for him. She looked over at Xullae and nodded.

The petitioner smiled, but there was an unmistakable edge of sorrow to the expression. For a moment, she seemed to search for words, but found none. Instead, she sighed. "Let us be done with this mess," Xullae said. "I will pull Daemoch away, but that will not last long. As soon as I am incapacitated, he will go to the gate."

"How will you lure him away?"

Xullae smiled. Her appearance wavered, shifting to look like Sabal. "I will give him what he desires: rebellion to crush."

"He can't see through the illusion?" Linnan asked with concern.

"His senses do not extend to truesight," Xullae said. "It will be enough, if you are careful and do not show yourselves until the last possible moment."

"We will be," Sabal promised. She hugged the petitioner impulsively, feeling a faint prickle of tears in her eyes, though no droplets flowed. This was yet another time where her mentor was giving up everything for her. The Spider Queen would not be kind to Xullae after this. "Thank you."

"First, you must survive," Xullae said. "When that is accomplished, you can thank me. Now come. Escape awaits."

Sabal nodded, albeit unsteadily. She gripped Alystin's hand tightly, though she was careful not to dig her claws into her lover's body. It was hard to watch Xullae walk away. The sight of her mentor, even like this, stirred the better parts of her nature. Only Alystin and thoughts of her safety stopped Sabal from going after Xullae. The wilder sucked in a deep breath, doing her best to ignore the burn of hatred in her blood as she looked down at the dretches. She wanted to charge into their midst, to shred and rip and tear, anything to satisfy the hunger she could feel gnawing at her insides. The idea of tasting flesh and blood was almost as wonderful as being able to hold Aly again.

Suddenly, she understood why breakfast was no longer palatable: it wasn't alive.

That revelation was not a pleasant one. How long would Aly love her if she learned of that curse? She narrowed her amber eyes as she padded through the abyssal darkness that wreathed so much of this plane, her sword in one hand. She refused to let go of Alystin's hand until she absolutely had to. There was no way she was losing the wizard in this place. Whatever happened to the wilder, she was making certain that Alystin made it safely out.

They were surprisingly stealthy, given Storunn's presence. The shield dwarf was at the rear of the group, to ensure Alystin and Nendir would be closest to the gate when they were inevitably discovered. Sabal was just behind them, Linnan and Camran behind her. They stayed tightly together, maneuvering around the rocks to obscure sight of them for as long as possible. No one dared speak a word. Premature discovery would cost them everything.

Sabal stopped in the shadows as a dretch started to sniff around. It stiffened, about to alert, so she seized control of its weak, malleable mind. The hunger dominated everything for a moment. All she had to do was walk it over to her. Then she could sink in her claws, her teeth, and feel it writhe in agony. It would be so _easy._

That was a course of action that would put everyone at risk. She managed to overrule instinct for the moment, biting her lower lip until she tasted blood. The sharper pain grounded her agony-wracked body even as the blood increased her appetite. _Soon,_ she promised herself. The demon spotted one of its fellows and she felt a flash of aggression in its mind. Sabal caught it and amplified it.

The dretch snarled and charged at its fellow, cursing in Abyssal.

Alystin relaxed slightly as the creature walked away, but frowned slightly when she saw that Sabal hadn't relaxed. The wilder was like a drawn bowstring, ready to let fly. " _D'anthe_ , are you alright?" she whispered softly, barely audible even to Sabal.

Sabal nodded, not trusting herself to say anything. When she looked back at Aly, her slitted pupils were wider, those of a hunter. Even sight of her lover made the hunger pains almost unbearable. Suddenly, the demon was the least of Sabal's problems.

The poison of this plane wanted her to harm Alystin, and the only thing stopping her was love...and the discipline honed by years and years of training.

Nendir tapped Aly's shoulder and pointed at the gate. A larger demon stepped through, immediately heading towards the dretches. It was a gaunt humanoid shape covered in pitch black, leathery skin with a horn jutting out of the back of its head, and carried a lethal looking blade. _Babau_ , Alystin identified in her thoughts even as the assassin demon executed the problem dretch. The fight would be a little more problematic if that thing came after them, particularly if it called another of its kind.

Still, they were almost to the gate. Alystin inched along a stone ledge towards it, studying the runes as she did so. A feeling of relief crashed over her when she identified all of them. This was doable, and perhaps easier than she'd expected. The problem was that her odds of being precise with their destination might not happen. She could probably get them somewhere in the Sword Coast region, either surface or underdark, but that would be about the best she could hope for.

The sound of a sudden screech of Abyssal delight was her cue to bolt for the gate, Nendir and Camran on her heels. She looked back to see the babau launching itself at Storunn, who managed to block its first attack. He let out a shout as acid the color of blood dripped onto his arm. That was enough to draw the attention of the dretches, who loped over with surprising speed, trying to surround the dwarf.

Linnan hit from one side and Sabal hit from the other, catching the babau completely off-guard. The halfling darted from demon to demon, slashing at their legs to cripple them and make them an easier target for Storunn's hewing axe.

The wilder was a picture of savagery as she attacked the babau, face contorted into a snarl to show fangs. The babau shrieked in alarm, but that only seemed to drive the transformed drowess to greater abandon. Sabal plunged her sword into its chest, and when it didn't die, she lunged at it, ripping away at its face with clawed fingers. She bit down on its shoulder and ripped away flesh to consume, immune to its acidic blood.

It tasted better than any meal she could recall, even sweeter because it was a punishment inflicted on the creatures that had turned her into an abomination. She would never have her life again, but she could have this.

"Sabal, are ye—?" Storunn started to ask as he turned around. He did so just in time to see Sabal wrench her blade from the dead babau's chest and turn to the nearest dretch, chin wet with demon's blood. She was laughing, slitted amber eyes alight with delight. He felt a distinct chill run down his spine.

A few of the dretches backed away, clearly evaluating Sabal as a threat they weren't equal to, but the others surged to meet them. "I'll get to Aly and Nendir if you think you can hold them," Linnan said.

"We'll start retreating that way too," Storunn said gruffly, recovering slightly. He wasn't sure if Linnan hadn't seen or was waiting until they were safe to comment. The second was probably the best course of action. He looked over at Sabal, who was clearly enjoying this altogether too much. "Sabal, we be leavin'! Aly needs ye!" The wizard was probably the only thing that would get Sabal's attention at this point.

Sabal decapitated a dretch and then started to retreat towards the gate, placing herself between Storunn and the enemy. She'd fed off one or two now, enough to ease the powerful hunger. She taunted the demons in Abyssal as she backed towards the gate, cutting down any of them that came within reach. One of the dretches split away, running off towards another rift. That was probably where Xullae had lured Daemoch. They had seconds.

Alystin ran her fingertips over the runes, feeding power into each one. They shifted shape subtly, keying to a new location. It was on the surface, but it was also a place known to her: the cave where they'd taken shelter in the Spine of the World before heading to Silverymoon. If the orcs were there, local banditry wouldn't be a threat. Now she just needed to strengthen the link. Jumping across planes with any precision was not easy to do. It was a miracle that Nede had gotten them as close to Sabal as she had. That meant putting most, if not all of her power into it. If Daemoch attacked, she would have only the spells stored in her rings.

Hopefully that would be enough to buy them time.

There was a roar from the direction the dretch had run. A massive, arachnoid form shot towards them at unholy speed. "I need more time!" Alystin shouted.

Nendir drew his bow even though he was barely standing. "How much time?" he asked hoarsely, arms trembling with exertion.

"As long as you can," the wizard said. She gave him a small smile. "I'll get you home, Nendir."

"I know," the surface elf said. He let loose an arrow. For all his weakness, it flew straight and true, piercing one of Daemoch's eyes. The demon shrieked and lunged towards him, but was intercepted by Sabal.

For all her demonic corruption, her habit of putting herself between the group and harm hadn't gone away.

Sabal knew her blade couldn't deal with the demon's carapace, but that was fine. Daemoch's mind would suffice. She hammered at the creature with her psionic powers, relentless and unforgiving, fueled by the small meal she'd managed. She was far more powerful now that the creature's bite wasn't fouling her body with toxins and her mind was unclouded.

The monstrous bebilith brought one of its blade-like legs down at her. Sabal just barely dodged the worst of it. The sharp edge of its leg sliced deeply into her thigh as she hurled herself out of the way. Storunn grabbed her and pulled her back towards the gate.

"We're out of time, Aly!" Camran said running forward. He put a hand on Sabal's shoulder and let healing magic flow into her body.

Sabal screamed in agony, head jerking back as her whole body spasmed with pain at the healing spell. The connection to a god of light was far more painful than it had been earlier, no doubt corresponding to her increased strength. Still, the wound closed. The most unfortunate part was that the distraction had broken her concentration on Daemoch. The demon advanced, but not towards her.

It headed straight for Aly and Nendir, blood weeping from its damaged eye. Sabal broke free of Storunn's hold without a thought, a primal _need_ to protect Alystin overpowering everything else. "Aly!" She sprinted as fast as she could. It was too slow.

Daemoch lunged for the wizard with a bite, but found a different target interposed. Nendir had stepped in the way, the only thing he could do. The elf screamed as that horrible venom surged into his veins.

Sabal bashed into Daemoch with the force of her will and the demon immediately dropped the elf, spinning around. Camran and Storunn skirted around the beast to grab Nendir. No doubt Camran was trying to purge the elf's system of the venom before it was too late. Linnan grabbed Aly's hand. "We've got to go now," the halfling said.

"I know," Alystin said. "Get Nendir through the gate." She looked back to her lover. "Sabal! Now!"

The wilder shot between the bebilith's legs, tackling Alystin and taking them both through the gate after the others, Daemoch's shriek shattering their ears as they passed through.

They fell for what felt like a hundred years and an instant at the same time. Then the cold of transition became the warmth of a summer night. They hit the grass in a roll, tumbling down a hill, reveling in relief for a split second before consequences set in.

"Nendir," Alystin panted, still disoriented and confused.

"I have him," Camran promised. Now that they were on solid ground, he could actually get a look at the elf. Nendir was currently laying on him, stirring slightly even though most of his body was limp. The cleric sat up awkwardly, the elf in his arms. The cleric immediately started to pray, invoking his goddess as he sought to heal the bite.

Nendir looked like death, still as pale and bruised as he'd been in the Demonweb. He coughed, but his eyes opened. "Gods, but that hurts."

"That's my trooper," Linnan said with a grin. He punched up into the air and let out a whoop. "We did it!"

Alystin started to laugh, throwing her arms around Sabal's neck and touching their foreheads together. "We did it," she said, feeling downright giddy.

"Aye," Storunn said, burying his face in the grass for a moment. Then he sat up. "Sweet earth beneath, starry sky above. Downright perfect if you ask me."

"Been better," Nendir croaked. He was smiling fiercely all the same.

Sabal felt completely out of her element. She'd never really felt comfortable on the surface, though perhaps that was because they were only on it for a very short period of time. Now it was doubly strange, given that she had spent so long in the Demonweb. It couldn't have been too long, not judging by her friends' ages, but it felt like it had been a thousand years. She was immensely grateful for her freedom. It was a debt to her friends, to Xullae, that she would never be able to repay.

Alystin released Sabal with her right arm, but only so she could move a hand to Sabal's cheek. "How do you feel, _d'anthe_?"

Sabal didn't have words for what she was feeling. There were far too many emotions. Overwhelmed tears started to drip down her cheeks, washing away some of the blood. When Alystin's expression changed from delight to concern, Sabal shook her head to try and communicate that the wizard shouldn't worry.

Camran handed over his handkerchief so that Sabal could wipe her face. She took the time to clean off her chin too, though fresh blood started to flow from the wound to her lip even after she'd cleaned up a little. A few shaky breaths seemed to ground Sabal more.

"Thank you," she said softly as she looked up at Camran. Then she looked at the others. "Thank you, all of you."

"Let's just never, ever, do that again," Nendir said, trying to sit up more. "Everyone okay?"

"Scarred for life," Linnan said cheerfully. "Otherwise good. Not to put too fine a point on our situation, but...where the hell are we?"

Nendir looked around. They were somewhere in the mountains, though he didn't know how far east or west they were. Definitely on the southern side of the range. "I think this is the Spine," he said. "But that's about the best I can do."

Storunn took a deep breath, his thoughts returning to the battle. He made a mental note to talk to everyone about what he'd seen of Sabal in that fight. There was a definite chance that they were all in danger, even if it was from Sabal. The wilder wasn't the kind to prey on her friends...or she hadn't been before the Demonweb, anyway. Now? He knew that she could have the best intentions in the world and still be a very, very real threat.

"We need to pitch a proper camp," Camran said. "Nendir, can you walk?"

"Walk?" Nendir said with a grin. "We're home. I'll dance a jig all the way to the campsite."

"I think I want to see that," Alystin said, getting up and holding her hand out to Sabal. She helped the wilder up gingerly, still treating her lover as if she was fragile. Once Sabal was up to her feet, Aly slipped an arm around her lover's waist. She leaned into Sabal slightly. "I love you, _d'anthe_. Welcome home."


End file.
